Psychiatric patient can be force-fed by doctors, High Court rules

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A psychiatric patient was authorised to be force-fed by doctors at the High Court on 15 October 2014, after refusing food and fluids. The woman, who is in her 40s, had psychiatric conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder and had previously been fed through a nasogastric tube.

Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns granted orders allowing medical practitioners to provide nourishment without her consent, including through a nasogastric tube. The case also raised whether she had the mental capacity to refuse food and fluids, with medical opinion divided on that issue.