Anorexic woman cannot be force fed, judge rules
A judge in Morristown, New Jersey, has refused to order the forced feeding of a 29-year-old anorexic woman living in a psychiatric hospital.
Judge Paul Armstrong ruled on Monday in the case of the woman identified as “A.G.,” report the Daily Record, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
A.G. wanted to be transferred to a palliative care unit, a request backed by the woman’s parents, physicians, guardian and lawyer. A hospital ethics committee was also in agreement. A.G.’s psychiatrist had testified that A.G. would have to be restrained if she were force fed, which could cause her bones to break.
A.G., who is 5 feet 6, weighed about 60 pounds in June, and a court-appointed pro bono guardian obtained a court order for artificial feeding at that time. A.G.’s weight increased to 90 pounds, but she had “re-feeding syndrome” that damaged her heart. The feeding tube was removed and A.G. is living on coffee, diet soda and “occasional nibbles of food,” according to the Daily Record.
New Jersey Attorney General Gene Rosenblum had argued that A.G. lacked mental competence to make a decision. But Armstrong said A.G. had “a clear understanding that death was or could be the outcome” of her decision.
