Informed Consent for Major Medical Treatment of Mentally Disabled People

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Abstract
When an incompetent mentally disabled person has no family member or guardian available, obtaining informed consent for major medical treatment usually requires a court order — an often time-consuming, formal, and expensive process that does not provide for much substantive review of the decision about treatment. Consequently, there is a temptation to circumvent the requirement that informed consent be obtained for treatment of the residents of institutions as well as of those in community mental-health and mental-retardation programs. Under a new pilot program established by the New York State legislature, volunteer committees are empowered to make decisions about medical care in such cases.

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