A cancer patient who has a phobia of hospitals should be forced to undergo a life-saving operation if necessary, a High Court judge has ruled. Sir Nicholas Wall, sitting at the Court of Protection, ruled doctors could forcibly sedate the 55-year-old woman, who has learning difficulties.
The woman lacked the capacity to make decisions about her health, he said. Doctors at her NHS foundation trust had argued she would die if her ovaries and fallopian tubes were not removed.
Evidence presented to Sir Nicholas, head of the High Court Family Division, said the woman - referred to as "PS" - was diagnosed with uterine cancer last year. It was slow growing but would, without surgery, ultimately spread and kill her, he heard. The woman, who is said to have a "significant impairment in intellectual functioning", has failed or refused to attend hospital for treatment. She has a needle phobia as well as a hospital phobia.
In his ruling, Sir Nicholas said if persuasion failed, doctors could sedate PS in order to get her to hospital - and to detain her there while she recovered after the operation. He said he was "entirely satisfied" that it was "right to make the declarations sought by the trust".
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