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Updated: Aug 7, 2026
04:23
A Treatment Package without Escape Extinction to Address Food Selectivity
Published on: August 21, 2015
Psychiatric patients who refuse nourishment
General Hospital Psychiatry
|March 1, 1986
Summary
Patients refusing nourishment presents ethical dilemmas. Physicians should only use coercive feeding for incompetent patients or those with severe mental disorders who refuse food.
Area of Science:
- Medical Ethics
- Bioethics
- Healthcare Law
Background:
- Court cases highlight patient autonomy regarding self-starvation in healthcare settings.
- Patient refusal of voluntary nourishment is a recurring issue in medical practice.
Observation:
- Analysis of two clinical cases involving patients who refused nourishment.
- Exploration of the medical, ethical, and legal dimensions of patient nourishment refusal.
Findings:
- Physicians face complex decisions when patients refuse food.
- Coercive feeding is ethically justifiable only in specific circumstances.
Implications:
- Recommends limiting involuntary nourishment to incompetent patients or those with severe mental disorders.
- Suggests a balance between patient autonomy and medical intervention in end-of-life care decisions.
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