ISD II – Psychiatry

Ethics/Humanities/Health Law

Background Reading for Nov. 12, 12-12:50 p.m.

This package contains:

• A 1996 article on the notion of Capacity from the Canadian Medical Association Journal series “Bioethics for Clinicians”
• A 1983 article from the American Journal of Psychology by Walter Everaerd describing a case of apotemnophilia
• A 2000 newspaper article from the Sunday Mirror (a British newspaper) which reports on the controversy surrounding a surgeon who amputated a healthy leg from a man with apotemnophilia.

Learning Objectives

In this session you will:

• Consider the notions of competence and capacity
• Consider the legal and moral implications of these notions
• Consider an ‘extreme’ case that tests the limits of competence and capacity, i.e., a case of apotemnophilia

Article Summaries

• Article summaries will be accepted until Monday, Nov.18
• Note: please do not write a summary of the piece from the Sunday Mirror. It is already condensed enough.

Journal Assignment

• If you have not already done so, those of you doing the journal option instead of article summaries should make an appointment to discuss your journal with Andrew Latus or John Crellin ASAP.

A Note About the Readings

• How to approach the readings on apotemnophilia: I haven’t given you these readings because the condition is particularly important. Instead the point is to use this admittedly extreme and unusual case to explore the idea of capacity. Consider how the person requesting an amputation of a healthy leg justifies his desire for this. Ask yourself whether the person appears to have the capacity to make this decision? Would you say that the surgeon described in the Sunday Mirror article has done something morally wrong? Would you perform the operation yourself?