Ireland's High Court has ruled that a young anorexic woman can be force-fed through a tube against her will to prevent malnutrition and irreversible liver injury. The president of the High Court was told that the feeding treatment was necessary to safeguard the woman’s well being and health.
The woman’s psychiatrist believes the woman in question does not have the mental capacity to recognise the seriousness of the situation and make appropriate decisions accordingly.
Her doctors stated that the case in question was at the more severe end of anorexia in that the women has suffered liver function abnormalities and her weight has dropped as low as 24.2 kg. They said that other feeding options put forward by the woman, such as oral supplement and peg feeding, would not work.
The application to the High Court was made when none of the other treatment options were working.
Granting the application, Justice Nicholas Kearns remarked that this was not the first case of its kind to come before him.
Click here to read an Irish Times article about the case.