Minor’s rights

Minor’s rights

Details of minors' rights below

  • in the healthcare service
  • at the pharmacy
  • In MyKanta.

In the healthcare service 

Rights regarding prescriptions

The healthcare unit makes an assessment of whether minors are capable of self-determination. If the healthcare personnel so assesses, minors have the same rights as adults.   

Therefore, they are able to give their consent on

  • producing a printout of their prescriptions summary
  • checking their overall medication regimen 
  • cancelling their prescription
  • renewing their prescription and providing their phone number for notifications by text message. 

Rights regarding medical records

A minor capable of self-determination can

  • consent to disclosure of their medical records for treatment purposes
  • refuse to allow disclosure of their records. 
    • Also covers disclosure of records to parents and guardians.

If the minor is not capable of self-determination, the parent or guardian gives the consent.

  • A minor's parents, guardian or other person responsible for their care has no right to refuse disclosure of the minor's medical records to a healthcare unit treating the minor.

At the pharmacy

A minor can

  • collect their prescribed medicines from the pharmacy 
  • collect medicines on behalf of others.

Currently, a person under 18 cannot collect medicines on electronic prescriptions from pharmacies in other European countries, because there is no facility for minors to give the necessary consent in MyKanta.

A person over 15 can

  • renew a prescription at a pharmacy
  • give consents relating to prescriptions at a pharmacy
    • Consents for younger patients are always given by the parent or guardian.

However, a minor cannot be given permission by consent to request

  • a medication summary
  • a medications review of the person on behalf of whom the minor is acting 
  • cancellation of a medicine or
  • renewal of a prescription.

In MyKanta

In MyKanta, a minor can

  • view prescriptions and medical records entered in Kanta Services from 1 August 2016
  • request renewal of a prescription.

In MyKanta, a minor cannot themselves 

  • sign for information as received
  • give consents
  • set refusals
  • give their wishes on organ donation or a living will. 

Minors have the right to decide whether or not their records are shown to their parents or guardians, if they have been assessed as sufficiently mature for self-determination by a healthcare unit. In such a case, the health service can block the parent or guardian from viewing the records in MyKanta. However, parents or guardians are currently unable to view the records of a child over 10 in MyKanta.

When a minor reaches the age of 18, they have access also to their records entered before 1 August 2016, when acting on behalf of a minor was adopted in Kanta Services.

Under-aged parent or guardian

If a person under 18 is a child's parent or guardian, they have the same rights to take care of their under-aged child’s affairs as an adult parent or guardian. 
In other European countries, a parent or guardian under 18 is currently deemed to be under-aged, and they have no right to act on the child's behalf. 

Last updated 27.2.2023