Conferences & Symposia

Roundtable on Adolescent Decision-Making

Roundtable on Adolescent Decision-Making

Scholars at the University of Maryland School of Law’s Law & Health Care Program and the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics are bringing together legal and health policy scholars for a Roundtable meeting to discuss adolescent decision-making and the law in three areas – addiction treatment, chronic and terminal disease treatment, and body modification surgery. The goal of the Roundtable is to look at these three areas in which adolescents are called upon to make serious medical decisions to determine whether the law reflects our current understanding of the adolescent decision-making process or whether adjustments to the law are advisable. A significant advance in our understanding of adolescent decision-making – and one that will be a focus of the Roundtable - comes from the field of neuroscience and research relating to high-risk behaviors, addiction vulnerability, and mental illness as different parts of the brain mature at different rates. Another area of focus will be adolescent decision-making in the area of substance abuse treatment and parental notification and whether the law in this area encourages the best clinical outcomes. The Roundtable will also look at how adolescents make decisions regarding body modification surgery in light of the increasing use of such surgery among adolescents. At the conclusion of the Roundtable, participants will discuss if recommendations or further study is required based on the issues raised at the Roundtable.

Supported by the Karen Rothenberg and Jeffrey Seltzer Law & Health Care Program Endowment

**By invitation only**
RSVP to Virginia Rowthorn at vrowthorn@law.umaryland.edu

• Law & Health Care Program
• Agenda

Case Studies

• Addiction Treatment and Mental Health
• Terminal and Chronic Illnesses
• Body Modification Surgery

Videos

• Morning Session
• Lunch Session
• Afternoon Session