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Health Law and Policy

University of Michigan Law School

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Medical treatment

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Full-Text Articles in Law

When Coercion Lacks Care: Competency To Make Medical Treatment Decisions And Parens Patriae Civil Commitments, Dora W. Klein Apr 2012

When Coercion Lacks Care: Competency To Make Medical Treatment Decisions And Parens Patriae Civil Commitments, Dora W. Klein

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The subject of this Article is people who have been civilly committed under a state's parens patriae authority to care for those who are unable to care for themselves. These are people who, because of a mental illness, are a danger to themselves. Even after they have been determined to be so disabled by their mental illness that they cannot care for themselves, many are nonetheless found to be competent to refuse medical treatment. Competency to make medical treatment decisions generally requires only a capacity to understand a proposed treatment, not an actual or rational understanding of that treatment. This …


The Choice To Limit Choice: Using Psychiatric Advance Directives To Manage The Effects Of Mental Illness And Support Self-Responsibility, Breanne M. Sheetz Dec 2007

The Choice To Limit Choice: Using Psychiatric Advance Directives To Manage The Effects Of Mental Illness And Support Self-Responsibility, Breanne M. Sheetz

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Psychiatric advance directives are a valuable tool for individuals with mental illnesses. Ulysses directives, in particular, allow individuals to bind themselves to treatment in advance of needing it for the purpose of overcoming illness-induced refusals. This Note evaluates the effectiveness of state advance directive statutes in three areas that are especially important for Ulysses directives: defining competency to execute, activate, and revoke directives; waiving the constitutional right to refuse treatment; and encouraging provider compliance. This Note ultimately advocates for other states to adopt provisions similar to a Washington State statute. The Washington statute authorizes Ulysses directives by allowing advance consent …


Something Must Be Done: An Argument For The Partial Deregulation Of Research On Bipolar Disorder And The Implementation Of Rolling Informed Consent, Janalee S. Kraschnewski May 2006

Something Must Be Done: An Argument For The Partial Deregulation Of Research On Bipolar Disorder And The Implementation Of Rolling Informed Consent, Janalee S. Kraschnewski

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Bipolar disorder (BD) cripples the lives of countless individuals across the globe. The healthcare community has had difficulty securing effective, long-term treatment for this disease. This Note argues that enlarging the pool of possible research subjects through partial deregulation of BD research would facilitate the development of better treatment. This Note further proposes the implementation of a system of rolling informed consent to ensure that actual and full consent is obtained from BD research subjects.