al neglect revolves around the parents' unwillingness to consent to medical treatment which would cure, alleviate or prevent their children from suffering physical harm. This includes not seeking medical care as well as not following through with prescribed medical care. Medical care neglect includes nutritional neglect which is the lack of nutritional food or the withholding of food from a child as a form of punishment. For example, dietary instructions may result in the withholding of food that builds strong bones and teeth or keeping a child heavily clothed so they are not able to manufacture vitamin D from the sun's ultraviolet rays. Cases of failure to grow, due to strict vegetarian diets, have also been reported. Medical care neglect can also be considered present if a child with a visual impairment is not brought to an eye care specialist for evaluation, even after several referrals. Another example would be the child with multiple painful dental caries who is not taken to the dentist despite the efforts of school personnel to arrange dental appointments. There is a great variance among states regarding the balance of children's rights to be healthy versus the parents' rights to decide these matters.6
Parents who are noncompliant with medical instructions such as administering prescribed medicines, may be guilty of medical neglect if those parents are counseled and educated as to the seriousness of their child's illness but simply refuse to administer the prescribed.7
Family financial problems are a primary factor for medical neglect, particularly dental neglect. Dental benefits for children are quite expensive. However, effective fee control might be possible in a program for children only. Dental benefits for children may be justified as an attempt to prevent parents' poor judgment or low incomes from leaving a permanent impact on children's dental health. Nevertheless, government systems do not instill in pa...