Decision-Making Capacity and Unusual Beliefs: Two Contentious Cases

AbstractDecision-making capacity is a vital concept in law, ethics, and clinical practice. Two legal cases where capacity literally had life and death significance areNHS Trust v Ms T [2004] andKings College Hospital v C [2015]. These cases share another feature: unusual beliefs. This essay will critically assess the concept of capacity, particularly in relation to the unusual beliefs in these cases. Firstly, the interface between capacity and unusual beliefs will be examined. This will show that the “using and weighing of information” is the pivotal element in assessment. Next, this essay will explore the relationship between capacity assessment and a decision’s “rationality.” Then, in light of these findings, the essay will appraise the judgments inNHS v T andKings v C, and consider these judgments ’ implications. More broadly, this essay asks: Does capacity assessment examine only the decision-making process (as the law states), or is it also influenced by a decision’s rationality? If influenced by rationality, capacity assessment has the potential to become “a search and disable policy aimed at those who are differently orientated in the human life-world” (Gillett2012, 233). In contentious cases like these, this potential deserves attention.
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research