To the Editor: Snow and Fleming identify an important and often ignored problem.1 Without commenting on their specific case, we would point out that assessing a patient's medical decision-making capacity is part of every medical encounter,2 usually as an informal process and often without deliberative thought.
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. Snow HA, Fleming BR. Consent, capacity and the right to say no. Med J Aust 2014; 201: 486-488. <MJA full text>
- 2. Tunzi M. Can the patient decide? Evaluating patient capacity in practice. Am Fam Physician 2001; 64: 299-308.
- 3. Bastian P, Ward L, Denson L. Pitfalls in medical practitioners' assessment of decision-making capacity. Psychiatr Psychol Law 2015. In press.
- 4. Ganzini L, Volicer L, Nelson W, Derse A. Pitfalls in assessment of decision-making capacity. Psychosomatics 2003; 44: 237-243.
- 5. Darziņs P, Molloy DW, Strang D. Who can decide? The six step capacity assessment process. Adelaide: Memory Australia Press, 2000.
- 6. Purser KJ, Rosenfeld T. Evaluation of legal capacity by doctors and lawyers: the need for collaborative assessment. Med J Aust 2014; 201: 483-485. <MJA full text>
- 7. Vellinga A, Smit JH, van Leeuwen, et al. Instruments to assess decision-making capacity: an overview. Int Psychogeriatr 2004; 16: 397-419.
Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.
No relevant disclosures.