Abstract
This article reviews the clinical and legal issues involved in dealing with patients who refuse medical treatment following an overdose. We first describe a real case that has been made anonymous, before discussing a general approach to management.
We then review the relevant legislation, including the Mental Capacity Act (2005), the Mental Health Act (1983) and legal issues surrounding the treatment of young people. We discuss how this legislation may be applied in practice and then conclude with the outcome of the case, sources of further information and some key learning points.
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References
- National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2004) Self Harm: The short term physical and psychological management and the secondary prevention of self harm in primary and secondary care. CG 16 http://www.nice.org.uk/CG16.
- The Mental Capacity Act (2005). The Stationary Office, London.
- Department of Health (2007) Code of Practice to the Mental Capacity Act TSO, London.
- The Mental Health Act (1983). The Stationary Office, London.
- Department of Health (2008) Code of Practice to the Mental Health Act 1983 TSO, London.
- Dyer (2009) Coroner rules that treating 26 year old woman who wanted to die would have been unlawful BMJ 339: b4070.
- The Children Act (1989) The Stationary Office, London.
- Nielsen vs Denmark (1989) European Court of Human Rights 11 EHRR
175.
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