A cancer patient who has a phobia of hospitals should be forced to undergo a life-saving operation if necessary, a High Court judge has ruled. Sir Nicholas Wall, sitting at the Court of Protection, ruled doctors could forcibly sedate the 55-year-old woman, who has learning difficulties.
The woman lacked the capacity to make decisions about her health, he said. Doctors at her NHS foundation trust had argued she would die if her ovaries and fallopian tubes were not removed.
Evidence presented to Sir Nicholas, head of the High Court Family Division, said the woman - referred to as "PS" - was diagnosed with uterine cancer last year. It was slow growing but would, without surgery, ultimately spread and kill her, he heard. The woman, who is said to have a "significant impairment in intellectual functioning", has failed or refused to attend hospital for treatment. She has a needle phobia as well as a hospital phobia.
In his ruling, Sir Nicholas said if persuasion failed, doctors could sedate PS in order to get her to hospital - and to detain her there while she recovered after the operation. He said he was "entirely satisfied" that it was "right to make the declarations sought by the trust".
4 comments:
Wow... that's scary.
So much for respect and dignity.
I guess she has to live because other people say so. Never mind what her quality of life might be.
Never mind her mental capacity?
So people with mental deficits should have no say in what's done to them?
I thought that sort of thinking went out of fashion when we stopped forcibly sterilizing people with intellectual disabilities...
Children are rightly treated against their wishes if it is in their best interest, especially if it is to save their lives. The same goes for everyone who, because of a mental handicap are not capable of making an informed decision for themselves. There's nothing unethical in that, and you are foolish to compare it to forced strerilizations.
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