ABSTRACT
The question as to whether an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment (ADRT) can be used to refuse blood transfusion was answered in a case heard in 2014. In February 2014, Resuscitation Council (RC) deliberately lacerated his brachial artery and had since attempted to reopen that wound a number of times. This led to his compulsory admission to the secure hospital a month later, together with the use of a restraint belt to prevent him slashing the artery. The court found that RC suffered from a personality disorder rendering him antisocial and emotionally unstable. He cut himself with the intention of providing a distraction from distressing thoughts and feelings, particularly when severely distressed. Section 63 of the Act provides for, among other things, compulsory treatment of physical disease only if this is a symptom or manifestation of the mental illness for which the patient has been compulsorily detained.
