Mentally ill woman to be forced to undergo invasive surgery against her will

I think it's pointless having this discussion here as many here are medics or going into the mental health profession and being in junior positions won't have had the years needed in these professions to have independent thought as well as life experience, as they will defer to what they have been told by lecturers.

Also I get the feeling with some here,that they do get a kind of strange pleasure from thinking they have power over vunerable people,as lets face it medicine is a trying job doing with other peoples sh1t bodily fluids and diseases,I wouldn't do it. .Maybe not to cause harm,but I think it's something they find uncomfortble to discuss and would dismiss.

This has been shown when clear cases of medical negligence have been brought up and many have supported or felt sympathy for the medical staff,even when the negligence was found and the victims given compensation,so was not pure speculation or just the mail winding things up.

My opinion is, no medical treatment should be forced on anyone whatever their capacity,and it is a step too far for medical staff and by extension the judicary to do this. I would have a different opinion if for instance this woman had a child who needed surgery, and because of her mental health issues was stopping doctors operating on the child.In which case,I would agree with doctors placing the child in care if needs be to carry out this treatment.

But no, when it is just her own health that will be affected I see no reason to force anyone on the operating table. I think it is a sad reflection that we do this,to anyone whatever their mental capacity. The medical staff who take part in this,in whatever role, should not be in the profession.Just my opinion. Also to say someone is 'schizophrenic',is quite a loaded term, as there have been opinions from qutie eminent people, in psychology ,sociology and psychiatriy, that the term is rather inaccurate,and just a catch all term to describe mental hysteria,we aren't able to understand or cure.

So basically this woman has been detained in a mental institution without her consent, for a condition that to some is debatable in terms of if it exists and how it should be treated, and is now going to be sedated and operated on without her consent.With an operation which itself has risks. I also think her 'legal advisor', is a disgrace. She should complain to the bar council,although it's probably pointless as they will just make out she hasn't the capacity to complain.Lets face it ,she is 69, in a mental hospital ,her quality life will be relatively poor as it is, how much easier will this treatment make her existance in reality?

I don't know where to begin with what you posted. Let's ignore the term 'schizophrenia' and focus on the fact that the woman clearly has enough of the symptoms to be given said diagnosis as outlined in the ICD-10 and the DSM-IV. Even if this set of symptoms did not have a label, she would still be exhibiting the symptoms to an extent that necessitated being detained in a mental health hospital without her consent (assuming that she lacks insight and/or refuses to be detained voluntary) to maintain both her safety and others.

You think it a sad reflection that we force anyone on to the operating table despite their mental capacity; I think it sad that you can not understand that at times this may be necessary. I do not believe that a prolapsed womb is a life-threatening situation but if it were something far more threatening do you think that it would be right for a doctor to not operate/offer treatment because the individual concerned was so unwell/delusional that they thought treatment not necessary? For instance a patient I have met previously who used to think that she was under the control of a princess. If she were to say 'No I cannot have the surgery because the princess won't let me' - do you think it would be justifiable for a doctor to say 'okay, fine. Fair enough, we will not operate on this life threatening illness'.

Having read the article, however, I think it is absurd that she will be put to sleep a week before the operation to stop her from preventing the operation going ahead. If she really does lack capacity, then there will be no way for her to stop the operation from going ahead. Additionally if she is detained in a hospital, she is not going anywhere fast and will be having the operation regardless. Being sedated for a whole week is completely unjustified. But then again the Daily Mail is not exactly full of facts when it comes to matters like this.

As I said previously, I don't believe anyone,whatever their mental capacity should be forced onto an operating table for a surgical procedure. Partly this is because, all surgery has a risk of either not correcting the issue, making it worse in some form either the illness or perhaps a serious infection not connected to the original illness (particularly relevant in a British hospital) , or even death.If the patient is judged by the NHS not capable to not consent, how is she capable of understanding the risks and making an informed choice? When I had some minor surgery I had to sign a consent form showing I understood the risks.


My other contention, is this, I think it makes me very uncomfortable to be living in a society, where a state health service can force a decison over anyones life.Of course it isn't at the levels of Nazi germany, but I think red china would be an apt comparison. I think if someone wants to believe a princess is stopping them from surgery, let them think that. This woman in the article is a long term mental patient, why put her through all this at her age, what kind of life will she have afterwards? how will she ever trust medical staff again? Leave the poor old dear alone I say. This smacks to me, of a power hungry 'medical team' not liking their decisions not being carried out and perhaps concerned about resources going into to 'managing' the patient if she is allowed to refuse this surgery.

I agree that what Iam proposing isn't ideal, but in my view the alternative is much worse and a slippery slope.