At 06:07 PM 6/6/2003 +0000, Dana Tierney wrote: >http://cbc.ca/stories/2003/06/06/starson030606
I got the article again. Here the text of it: Mentally ill man may refuse treatment, court rules Last Updated Fri, 06 Jun 2003 13:21:08 OTTAWA - In a case reminiscent of the Hollywood movie A Beautiful Mind, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a mentally ill physics genius has the right to refuse treatment for his condition. In its ruling Friday, the court said that 47-year-old Scott Starson does not have to take the medication that doctors want to give him. But the decision does not necessarily affect treatment of other mentally ill people. With no formal training, Starson has written for academic journals on topics such as anti-gravity, the theory of relativity and time measurement. But he suffers from a condition combining the symptoms of schizophrenia and manic depression, which causes erratic and sometimes threatening behaviour. Five years ago, he was admitted to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto after a court found him not criminally responsible on two charges of uttering death threats. Refused treatment His psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Posner, proposed treating Starson with anti-psychotic drugs and physical restraints, but Starson has refused medication, saying it slowed down his thought processes. A medical review board ruled that Starson was not capable of making a decision about his medication, but that decision was overturned by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in 1999. The case then went to the Supreme Court of Canada. In its ruling Friday, the court said there were errors in the way the case was handled. Starson is currently in a psychiatric hospital in Ottawa with no prospect of being released. His mother, Jeanne Stevens, told CBC NewsWorld on Friday that the decision effectively ruins her son's life. She says medication would have taken away his erratic behaviour and allowed him to work again and live in the community. "I'm devastated and I truthfully believe that the Supreme Court did not have sufficient information," she said. "It's the end of his life." The case has parallels with A Beautiful Mind, in which Russell Crowe plays John Forbes Nash, a mathematics genius who suffers from schizophrenia. In 1994, Nash won the Nobel Prize in Economic Science for his earlier work on game theory. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 This list and all House of Fusion resources hosted by CFHosting.com. The place for dependable ColdFusion Hosting. http://www.cfhosting.com Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
