The neonatologist's duty to patient and parents.

When neurological impairment is suspected in a newborn, two issues arise: whether the physician or the parents should make life-or-death judgments concerning the child and whether the interests of infant or parents should take precedence. Strong considers arguments on both sides and suggests that the key to resolving the controversy lies in understanding the physician's proper relationship to the infant and the parents. He argues that when survival of an impaired newborn would heavily burden family life, the parents should be given the opportunity to participate in crucial decisions. In certain cases, however, the physician's obligations as infant-advocate justify unilateral decision making.