Psychiatrists are the health care professionals most frequently called upon to determine the
competency of a patient to refuse treatment. The motives for determining competency vary in …

This paper considers a number of questions concerning a central principle of modern liberal
medical ethics–that of respect for patient autonomy. This principle is generally interpreted as …

The terms “competency” and “decision making capacity”(DMC) are often used
interchangeably in the medical setting. Although competency is a legal determination made …

DISCUSSION There is usually no dispute over whether a medical or surgical consultation
should be performed. This is because both the physician requesting the consultation and the …

Background Psychiatric consultations involving the evaluation of patients' medical decision-
making capacity often seem to have little to do with truly compromised patient autonomy …

With the complexities of current medical care and the growing concern for patient autonomy
in making decisions about whether or not to accept medical and surgical treatment …

Although we have recently seen some interesting observations on the nature of competency
evaluations1–6 and the development of a clinical tool for assessing competency, 7 a …

Within medicine, some values have changed profoundly over the last few decades. Chief
among these is truthfulness—specifically, whether physicians should tell patients the truth …

Prevailing ethical principles forbid enforced medical treatment in the recognition of the
individual's choice as to whether to get cured or to remain ill. Prevailing medical practice …

There are three lines of argument in defence of coercive treatment of patients with mental
disorders: arguments regarding (1) societal interests to protect others,(2) the patients' own …