Update on the right to refuse antipsychotic medication

The legal history and current developments in the right to refuse antipsychotic medication are reviewed. In Washington v. Harper the US Supreme Court analyzed the right to refuse antipsychotic medication under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. A narrow issue was clarified but substantial uncertainty remains. As a result, law and policy problems at both state and institutional levels have become evident and may need to be addressed by drug policy decision makers.