 The law in this area is often criticised because it sets a legal standard for insanity, not a medical one. In R v Quick and Paddison [1973] QB 910, for example, the courts decided that an assault committed when the defendant was suffering from hypoglycemia due to the taking of insulin was not insane in nature, while in R v Hennsey [1989] 1 WLR 287 it was held that a crime committed while the defendant was suffering from hyperglycemia did constitute insanity. As a result, the existing law allows some diabetics to be acquitted while others are declared insane, something one academic describes as "absurd". In R v Sullivan, a man was charged with grievous bodily harm under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 after assaulting his friend during an epileptic seizure. The House of Lords ruled that Sullivan was indeed insane, and that "it does not lie within the power of the courts to alter [the insanity test]". Some critics have professed "unease" at the powers of the courts to confine people found not guilty by reason of insanity in mental hospitals, arguing that discussion of mental health should be limited to the mens rea of the crime; if the mental condition of the defendant voided the offence's mens rea, he should be acquitted.
