Forced Medications

The only time a patient can be restrained is when they are in danger of injuring themselves or others. Even then, there is a strict protocol that must be followed to insure the patient's comfort and safety. This is also to insure the patient's rights are not violated. Clearly, in the case of US vs. Sell, Dr. Sell's rights were violated.
             Other cases involving violations of patients" rights have been made public. The Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy (IGAP) recently presented a press release stating they have had .
             Forced Medication 3.
             complaints about possible patient rights being violated. The IGAP stated they had a complaint about a patient being forced to take antipsychotic medication, even though the patient was not a threat. This is a violation of the Mental Health and Disabilities Code number 03-080-9002, (State of Illinois, HRA reports). This code states that a patient must be given the right to refuse medication, except in emergency situations.
             Many of these cases are becoming public knowledge and concern. Advocacy groups are being formed to protect the mentally disabled. Professionals in the mental health field are writing books to publicly state their opinion about forced medications. Elyn Saks, who is a psychiatry professor at the University of Southern California wrote a book titled: Refusing Care: Forced Treatments and the Rights of the Mentally Ill. In her book, Saks states "Contrary to popular belief, the majority of the nation's psychiatric patients are mentally capable of making decisions when it comes to their own health care [.]". She goes on to say, "In most cases, talk is better than force".
             During the White House Conference on Mental Health at Howard University in Washington, D.C., the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy got to state their case against forcing medication on the mentally disabled. In a press release called Survivors Speak Out (June 7, 1999), Justin Dart, the president of NARPA, reportedly stated at the conference "Force is not a way to deal with people with psychiatric disabilities[.