Clinical ethics
Personality disorder and competence to refuse treatment
1 Otago District Health Board, Dunedin, New Zealand
2 Department of Psychological Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, Dunedin, New Zealand
Correspondence to:
Dr E Winburn, Otago District Health Board, Private Bag 1921, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; liz.winburn{at}otagodhb.govt.nz
The traditional view that having a personality disorder, unlike other mental disorders, is not usually reason enough to consider a person incompetent to make healthcare decisions is challenged. The example of a case in which a woman was treated for a physical disorder without her consent illustrates that personality disorder can render a person incompetent to refuse essential treatment, particularly because it can affect the doctor–patient relationship within which consent is given.
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- Personality disorder is not grounds to consider a person incompetent to make healthcare decisions
- Christopher J Ryan, et al.
- JME Online, 15 Oct 2008 [Full text]
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