Court faced with difficult treatment choices

Ed Madden, BL, looks at a recent England and Wales Court of Protection case in which the Court had to choose between a number of unpalatable treatment options in respect of a woman with severe anorexia nervosa In January 2017, the England and Wales Court of Protection delivered its judgment in an application brought by a National Health Service foundation trust in respect of a 46-year-old woman with a very long history of anorexia nervosa. At the time of the application, she was detained in hospital under section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (“the Act”). When the matter…