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. 1984 Jun;14(3):13-6.

Bound to treatment: the Ulysses contract

R Dresser
  • PMID: 6746269

Bound to treatment: the Ulysses contract

R Dresser. Hastings Cent Rep. 1984 Jun.

Abstract

KIE: Several commentators have proposed a novel legal mechanism, the "Ulysses contract" or "voluntary commitment contract," to permit mental patients with recurrent treatable disorders to consent in advance to treatment which they might reject at a time when their cognitive abilities are impaired. Dresser discusses the legal ramifications of precommitment, the implications of basing consent on a patient's past rather than current wishes, problems of enforcing Ulysses contracts given the uncertainties of psychiatric diagnosis, and the inherent paternalism of these precommitment agreements.

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