When caring for of patients suffering from severe anorexia, medical teams may feel deprived in the face of the ambivalent behavior of some of these patients who accept medical care but refuse nutrition. We present here the case of a woman suffering from severe chronic anorexia with a state of morbid malnutrition, which presented the ethical question of how to deal with this unreasonable attitude. These extreme cases raise several questions regarding avoiding malfeasance and when to provide palliative care in a management of psychiatric pathology.
BeauchampsT.C., ChildressJ.F.2008. Principles of biomedical ethics, 6th ed., 99–239. New York: Oxford University Press.
2.
Boullu-CioccaS., DarmonP., SebahounG., SilaghiA., Dutour-MeyerA.2005. Gelatinous bone marrow transformation in anorexia nervosa. Annals of Endocrinology66(1): 7–11.
3.
DraperH.1998. Treating anorexics without consent: some reservation. Journal of Medical Ethics24: 5–7.
4.
DraperH.2000. Anorexia nervosa and respecting a refusal of life-prolonging therapy: a limited justification. Bioethics14(2): 121–33.
5.
KeelP., DorereD., EddyK., FrankoD., CharatanD., HertzogD.2003. Predictors of mortality in eating disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry60: 179–82.
6.
O'NeillJ., CrowtherT., SampsonG.1994. A case study: anorexia nervosa. Palliative care of terminal psychiatric disease. American Journal of Hospital Palliative Care11(6): 36–8.
7.
RamseyR., TreasureJ.1996. Treating anorexia nervosa: psychiatrists have mixed views on use of terminal care for anorexia nervosa. British Medical Journal312(7024): 182.
