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In Britain adults have the right to consent to experimental therapies with little chance of success, just as they may refuse treatment.
在英國，成年人有權接受成功可能性小的實驗治療，就像他們有權拒絕接受治療一樣。
If doctors do not deem a treatment to be in a patient's interests they may refuse to give it, but a court cannot prevent an adult from seeking (and paying for) such care elsewhere.
如果醫生認為治療不符合病人的利益，他們可能會拒絕給予治療，但法院不能阻止成年人在別處尋求（以及支付）那樣的治療。
In the cases of children or others who lack the capacity to decide for themselves and have not previously made their wishes clear, courts can overrule the wishes of families.
在孩子或其他缺乏自主決定的能力的人且以前沒有明確自己意愿的情況下，法院可以駁回家屬的意愿。
In America courts have been reluctant to go against parents' requests for treatment, even when the chance of success is vanishingly small, says Dominic Wilkinson of Oxford University.
牛津大學的多米尼克威爾金森表示，在美國，即使治療成功的可能性很小，法院也不愿違背父母的治療要求。
That can mean doctors having to provide care which they think is against the interests of their patient.
這樣的現象可能意味著醫生不得不提供他們認為不利于病人利益的護理治療。
Under Texas's “futile care law”, if medics feel that a treatment requested by a family will be of no benefit they can go before an ethics committee.
在德克薩斯的“無用的護理法”中，如果醫生認為家庭所要求的治療是沒有好處的，他們可以在治療前向倫理委員會提出治療無用的意見。
If the committee agrees that the treatment is futile, the family may seek another doctor to provide it, within a time limit.
如果委員會同意這種治療是無效的，那么在一段時間內這個家庭可能會尋求另一名醫生來給他們提供治療。
In the Canadian province of Ontario a tribunal hears cases where doctors challenge families' decisions.
在加拿大的安大略省，特別法庭會審理醫生對家人治療要求提出質疑的案件。
It often rules in favour of clinicians.
在這種情況下，判決通常會對臨床醫生是有利的。
Disagreements between parents and doctors over end-of-life decisions involving children are uncommon.
父母和醫生在涉及孩子的臨終決定上產生分歧的情況是不常見的。
One Dutch study suggested that they occur in about 10% of cases involving severely ill babies.
荷蘭的一項研究表明，大約10%的類似案例會發生在重癥嬰兒的身上。
Even then, in all those instances, consensus was eventually reached.
即便如此，在所有這些例子中，最終父母和醫生還是會達成共識。
Cases that reach a court are the exceptions.
最終要鬧到法院的案例還是很少見的。
They are, by their nature, the hardest of all.
畢竟這類案件本質上就是最困難的情況了。
譯文來源考研英語時事閱讀
