ABSTRACT
A 28-year-old woman, W, who had suffered anorexia for 20 years, having spent 10 of these years as an inpatient, mainly in specialist eating disorder units, had a body mass index of 12.6. Her clinicians supported their patient's request to be released into her family's care. The court accepted that W understood that her life was in danger, noting she was ‘not overly concerned’ by this prospect. Her history showed that she would only eat when she had deteriorated to the extent where she believed her death was imminent. The withdrawal of compulsory life preservation in the severest anorexic patients, when the burden of treatment outweighs the benefit they would accrue, entails them facing a daunting future. But these patients have now been given the same opportunity for palliative care that is already afforded to countless others suffering from physical disease.
