#refusing treatment

[whumpygifs]

[whumpygifs]

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“A Peculiar Case,” Toronto Globe. September 1, 1919. Page 02. --- Man Accused of Being Menace Persists in Working for Family --- (Special Despatch to The Globe.) London, Ont., Aug. 31. - An extraordinary case which aroused the personal interest of Magistrate Graydon was heard in the Police Court yesterday, when Cecil Haines was charged with being a sufferer from tuberculosis and with refusing to accept sanitarium treatment. The man was told that he was a danger to himself and others, but he persisted as an ‘incorrigible patient.’ His excuse was that if he went into the hospital his wife and children would be unprovided for, as they are already heavily in debt. He persisted in working for their livelihood, and because he can neither read nor write the only job he could get was shoveling coal. Mr. Graydon stated that he would take the case up with the Mayor, and that if the accused did not abide by the regulations prescribed for him he would have to be committed to jail.

[mostlyunfiltered]

Paternalism is a bad word, and autonomy is the lifeblood of all things good. Even when people do things that make you want to poke out your eye. So if you're a patient who has capacity, you have a right to refuse whatever you want. Ventilators, medications, visitors, the therapy dog...I think that NG tubes and review of systems by med students are some of the most painful things in the hospital, so I'm going to throw those in, too.

Geriatrician in palliative care, speaking about end of life care and DNR