A high court judge in London on Wednesday gave doctors permission to forcibly sedate a woman who has a phobia of hospitals at her home, so that she can be taken for surgery against her will.
The highly unusual judgment by Sir Nicholas Wall, head of the court’s family division, said that if the 55-year-old woman, who has a significant learning difficulty, continued to refuse treatment, then an ambulance crew could be sent to her home to give her a mild sedative “mixed with a soft drink.” If this proved impossible, a consultant anesthesiologist should be on hand so the woman could be forcibly injected with a faster-acting drug, ketamine.
The decision was praised by the learning disability charity, Mencap, which said it had never previously heard of a similar case. Mencap campaigns head David Congdon praised the judge for making “a very difficult decision.
Sitting in the court of protection, the judge said the woman, identified in the ruling only as PS, lacked sufficient capacity to make decisions about her own health. The case was brought by an unnamed hospital, whose doctors believe PS will die if she does not have an operation to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Evidence said PS was diagnosed last year with uterine cancer, which was slow growing but would, without surgery, ultimately spread and kill her.
Attempts to look more closely at the tumor using an MRI scan proved impossible as PS has a phobia of hospitals and needles and is also claustrophobic, meaning she cannot lie still for a scan.
After she refused to attend hospital several times, “the clinical team treating her has reluctantly come to the conclusion that special arrangements will need to be put in place both to ensure that she has the operation and that she remains in hospital for her post-operative recovery,” the judgment said.
While “every effort” would be made to avoid forcibly sedating PS, this was seen as a back-up plan, the judge said. After the operation, she will remain drugged to make sure she does not flee.
The judgment, with identities obscured, was delivered in open court, he said, in part “to assist others who may be faced with a similar dilemma.”
Congdon praised the judge for his thoughtfulness in making “a very difficult decision.”
“Our starting point is that someone with learning difficulties has as much right as anyone to refuse treatment. But in this case, because she does not realize the consequences of her actions it’s right the Mental Capacity Act is invoked,” Congdon said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese