Scotland's Mental Welfare Commission has issued Doctors new guidelines for taking care of anorexic patients close to death. If two doctors have reason to believe that an anorexic patient is mentally ill and close to death, the patient may be sedated and tube-fed against their will. This applies to severely underweight children as well and can be done against a parent's wishes.
Dr Flora Sinclair, medical officer for the Mental Welfare Commission said "Doctors would only be able to resort to something like this without the patient's consent if there were very serious concerns that they may die. It's not just if they are refusing food and getting thinner, it's where there's a real physical risk that they may collapse and die. It's basically to save their life."
Sinclair added, "We thought it was important to have practice guidelines for people thinking about giving artificial nutrition without patient's consent. We are trying to ensure that if people are going to use these provisions they are going to do it properly. This makes it clearer and introduces specific safeguards that have to be put in place. This is not to make it more attractive as a treatment option."
Sinclair added, "We thought it was important to have practice guidelines for people thinking about giving artificial nutrition without patient's consent. We are trying to ensure that if people are going to use these provisions they are going to do it properly. This makes it clearer and introduces specific safeguards that have to be put in place. This is not to make it more attractive as a treatment option."
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