Involuntary Commitment and the Right to Refuse Treatment with Anti-Hypnotic Drugs

Abstract

INTRODUCTION|An involuntarily committed psychotic patient experiences a massive curtailment of liberty. A patient's life becomes thoroughly regulated within an institution and there is a significant loss of physical freedom. The commitment is disruptive of social, economic and family activities, and severely impinges upon privacy. Commitment generally means loss of control over the selection or refusal of medical or psychological treatment modalities. There is a heavy reliance by physicians upon anti-psychotic drugs for treatment of schizophrenia and other psychotic conditions because of beneficial effects of the drugs. However, their use also involves significant hazards. Further, it is believed by some that the drugs are used primarily for purposes of behavior control and as a means of punishment, and therefore their use should be legally regulated. Treatment with anti-psychotic drugs does not create a problem where either the patient is legally competent and consents to their use, or the patient is legally incompetent and the state, under the parens patriae power, treats the individual who is unable to make such decisions. This comment concerns the anomaly of an involuntary commitment of a legally competent individual who refuses. This note will deal only with commitment to state institutions and, therefore, actions by state-employed physicians will be considered state action...