Therapy, Not Therapist ' The Limits Of A Child's Consent To Healthcare

• Published date: 03 October 2022
• Subject Matter: Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Family and Matrimonial, Family Law
• Law Firm: Clark Wilson LLP
• Author: Ms Chantal Cattermole and Joanna Ludlow

What happens when a child's consent to healthcare has major ramifications beyond the treatment itself?

This was one of many issues addressed in the BC Supreme Court decision MSR v DMR, 2022 BCSC 1398 rendered on August 12, 2022. This case sought to determine whether the child of the marriage became estranged from his Mother or whether he was alienated from his Mother by his Father. In answering this question, the Court needed to determine if the child's consent for his therapist was irrefutable, as the therapist played a key role in the alleged alienation.

This case determined that:

> The child was indeed alienated from his Mother by his Father, with the child's therapist showing bias against the Mother and contributing to the breakdown of the parent-child relationship.

> A child's consent under the Infant's Act does not extend to a child's choice of a specific therapist, only to the therapy treatment itself.

Case Background

The child had a strong, loving relationship with his Mother and Father during their marriage. The parents decided to separate when the child was 10 years old and started to divide their time with the child equally. However, many issues that plagued the marriage persisted.

The Mother's parenting style was structured and enforced rules around bedtime, the child's use of electronics, and his school attendance. The Father had a much less rigid style with the child, soliciting the child's views and typically acquiescing to them.

Around this time, the parents were worried about their child's low weight and referred him to a food therapist. The therapist was in communication with both parents through email and text messaging. As the child's therapy progressed, the Father shared more and more about the son and Mother's relationship with the therapist including that: the Mother would take away the child's sweets and eat them in from of him, that the Mother spent all the family's money on herself, that she constantly badgered the Father and her son, that her residence was dirty, and that she was "horrible" to her son.

In late 2019, the parents finalized their separation agreement with the help of coaches and collaborative lawyers. Neither the Father nor any of the other participants raised any issues about the Mother's ability to parent during the process. However, shortly after the Father provided additional information to the therapist including that the Mother had instilled improper eating habits in the child, and that she had been abusive...