Doctors' legal position in treating temporarily incompetent patients.

Hodgkinson, D W; Gray, A J; Dalal, B; Wilson, P; Szawarski, Z; Sensky, T; Gillett, G; Yates, D W

Hodgkinson, D W; Gray, A J; Dalal, B; Wilson, P; Szawarski, Z; Sensky, T; Gillett, G; Yates, D W.

Affiliation

Hodgkinson DW; Stockport Acute Services NHS Trust, Stockport Infirmary.

BMJ ; 311(6997): 115-8, 1995 Jul 08.

Article in En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-7613365

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

Doctors in accident and emergency departments are sometimes presented with patients with potentially life threatening conditions who refuse to consent to treatment. The doctors then face a dilemma to withhold necessary treatment or to act against a patient's express wishes. Two such cases are presented, and we asked a lawyer, two medical ethicists, a psychiatrist, and an accident and emergency physician to comment on the implications.

Subject(s)

Emergency Medicine/legislation & jurisprudence; Ethics, Medical; Mental Competency; Treatment Refusal/legislation & jurisprudence; Adult; Alcoholic Intoxication; Beneficence; Craniocerebral Trauma/therapy; Drug Overdose/therapy; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Paternalism; Personal Autonomy; Suicide, Attempted

Key words

Legal Approach; Professional Patient Relationship

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Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Treatment Refusal / Mental Competency / Emergency Medicine / Ethics, Medical Type of study: Prognostic_studies Limits: Adult / Humans / Male / Middle aged Language: En Journal: BMJ Journal subject: MEDICINA Year: 1995 Type: Article

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