Section 63 Mental Health Act 1983 and the overdosing patient

Abstract

Patients who overdose but resist treatment raise difficult ethical and legal issues for clinicians. It can be tempting to consider detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 and administration of treatment under section 63 Mental Health Act 1983. But how far can clinicians go? Three recent cases have helped illustrate the approach to forced life-saving treatment; this article suggests questions that clinicians should ask themselves in light of them.