Am J Psychiatry 1980; 137:347-352
Copyright © 1980 by American Psychiatric Association
Legal guardianship in drug refusal: an illusory solution
TG Gutheil, R Shapiro and RL St. Clair
The use of legal guardianship appears to offer a ready resolution to the
complex forensic issue of involuntary medication for psychiatric
inpatients. The authors, with the aid of clinical examples, show that the
gap between theory and practice may render this solution illusory and
illustrate the profound complications for treatment introduced by the
guardianship process itself. After examining the complexities of this
problem, they consider alternative methods for preserving the patient's
rights both to receive and to refuse medication.
