This sad case concerned a young woman with a history of mental illness who was allowed by staff at the Norfolk and NorwichUniversityHospital to die after swallowing antifreeze. The medical staff did not carry out life saving treatment because Miss Wooltorton arrived at the hospital with an Advance Medical Directive which stated that she did not want to be saved and was “100% aware of the consequences”.
Medics consulted the hospital’s director and legal advisor who said it was clear that she had the mental capacity to make an Advance Medical Directive and was aware of the consequences of so doing.
Kerrie Wooltorton died in hospital 24 hours later and is believed to be the first person in the UK to have used an Advance Medical Directive to assist with their suicide.
The decision of the hospital to allow Miss Wooltorton to die has sparked considerable controversy, not least from anti euthanasia groups. However, Norfolk coroner, William Armstrong said “my judgement is that Kerrie had mental capacity. She had the right to refuse treatment and could not have been treated without her consent”.
Comment:
Advance Medical Directives (more commonly known as ‘Living Wills’) were given further legal weight by the Mental Capacity Act 2005. If a doctor acts in contravention of a person’s Advance Medical Directive then they may face assault charges or civil liability.
Advance Medical Directives allow clients with strong feeling about their medical treatment to set their wishes out in writing in preparation for a time when they are not in a position to make such wishes known verbally. They are more commonly put in place by terminally ill patients who do not wish to prolong their lives but certainly do not go as far as permitting euthanasia, which remains unlawful in the UK.