Pediatricians frequently confront situations in which they suspect that a child has been abused or neglected. Abuse can take many forms - physical, sexual, or psychological. Neglect can be medical neglect or psychosocial neglect. Laws in all fifty states require pediatricians to report suspected child abuse to state child protection agencies, which then investigate the suspicious cases. While few people disagree about the appropriateness of such protections for children, there are gray zones in which it is ambiguous whether or not a child has been abused or neglected.

We will soon have discussions of some of the moral ambiguities that arise in the diagnosis, reporting, and response to physical and sexual abuse, as well as neglect.

REFERENCES

LEGAL CASES

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