THE HIGH Court has been asked to decide if the HSE is legally entitled to continue to administer certain medical treatment to a female patient detained at a psychiatric hospital.
The woman, who has schizophrenia, does not want the treatment but the HSE claims she lacks the necessary mental capacity to make appropriate decisions concerning her treatment.
The action has been described as an important test case involving the court being asked for the first time to review the substance of a clinical intervention.
In the proceedings before Mr Justice John MacMenamin, the HSE has argued it is entitled under the provisions of the 2001 Mental Health Act to administer medical treatment to the woman so as to monitor side effects from a drug used to treat her schizophrenia.
Lawyers for the woman contend the terms of the 2001 Act are too broad and, while they do not oppose the woman receiving the treatment, they contend the court should ensure the woman’s treatment would be reviewed on a regular basis.
It is claimed continuous medical treatment of her condition without any supervision is a breach of the woman’s rights under the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights. The HSE denies those claims.
The judge yesterday adjourned the case for a week to allow both sides to prepare further submissions. It was important that time be allowed as the case had raised “a very important issue” that had “never previously been argued before the courts”, he said.
The court heard the woman, who cannot be identified by order of the court, had become resistant to most forms of medication used to treat her illness but had been given a specific drug to which she was not resistant.
A side effect of that medication involves the lowering of the white blood cell count. To monitor the cell count, regular blood samples must be taken with a syringe and that procedure may require that the patient be sedated.
The woman does not want this treatment but the HSE claims she is lacking in mental capacity.
In those circumstances, the HSE wants a court order permitting it to continue to treat her and monitor her white blood cell count. It previously obtained temporary orders permitting it to continue with her current treatment regime.