LAUSR

Vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) of the newborn is a serious medical event that has received recent media attention in relation to four cases reported from Nashville, USA. The Nashville parents had declined vitamin K, and their infants were developing normally until sudden bleeding occurred between 6 and 15 weeks. Three of the infants suffered intracranial haemorrhages, and while all survived, neurodevelopmental review is ongoing, with one demonstrating gross motor deficits. Given the severity of these potential consequences and the ease with which they can be prevented, this may appear to be a situation where parents’ wishes should be overridden. However, we will show why this is not as straightforward as it appears, suggest ways in which clinicians can view the harms of newborns not receiving vitamin K, and propose an ethically defensible approach.