Court Opinion

ID: 9723234
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 10:08:04.224422+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:45.737438
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE DOYLE, dissenting: I fully agree with nearly every aspect of the majority opinion; however, I respectfully disagree that an application of the recognized factors to the circumstances of this case indicates the trial court’s determination that respondent lacked the capacity to make a reasonable decision concerning medication is against the manifest weight of the evidence. In my view, the trial court correctly identified a central consideration evident from the testimony, i.e., evidence of interfering pathological perceptions or beliefs which might prevent an understanding of legitimate risks and benefits. (Factor No. 6 in majority’s discussion.) This factor appears to directly complement factor No. 2, the person’s ability to understand the available options, their advantages and disadvantages. There was uncontradicted psychiatric testimony that respondent was afflicted with a serious mental illness which deprived him of the capacity to make a reasoned decision. It is undisputed that his reasoning was hampered by delusional thought patterns and paranoid thoughts and that respondent often became explosive and aggressive. His condition was deteriorating, and he was becoming more unruly, attacking other patients, etc. The expert opinion describing respondent’s delusional thinking was corroborated by nurses’ testimony that he said God had attached his previously severed genitals and that respondent felt better at times when his head was connected to his neck. I recognize that the fact of mental illness alone will not preclude accepting a patient’s decision on the question of psychotropic medication. However, I do not believe it was against the manifest weight of the evidence, here, for the trial court to have concluded, consistent with the expert opinion, that respondent’s thought processes were so disrupted by his mental illness as to deprive him of the capacity to make a rather sophisticated decision concerning medication. Although I agree with the majority that a court must consider and weigh all six of the enumerated factors, I believe that the existence of severe delusional and erratic thinking, as here, can weigh so heavily as to guide the trial court in its determination that the administration of the medication is necessary and warranted. I would affirm the trial court’s judgment.