It is the unwarranted forced treatment that he objects to, "using the force of law (court orders) to compel people to submit to unwarranted psychiatric treatments they do not want," he says.
Mr Gottstein is speaking at the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology's annual conference being held October 7-9 in Washington, DC, on " Mental Health and the Law."
After being involuntarily committed to the Alaska Psychiatric Institute, Ms Meyers appealed a superior court order approving the administration of psychotropic drugs by the hospital. She argues that the statutes relied on in approving the medication violated the Alaska Constitution's guarantees of privacy and liberty.
The Supreme Court agreed. "In keeping with most state courts that have addressed the issue," it said, "we hold that, in the absence of emergency, a court may not authorize the state to administer psychotropic drugs to a non-consenting mental patient unless the court determines that the medication is in the best interests of the patient and that no less intrusive alternative treatment is available."
The High Court noted the trial court's concern that the statute does not allow the court to consider the problems with the drugs even though "a valid debate exists in the medically/psychiatric community as to the safety and effectiveness of the proposed treatment plan."
With the Supreme Court's decision, trial courts are not only allowed to consider, they are required to consider the safety and effectiveness of the medications in deciding whether the proposed drugging is in the patient's best interest.
The Court specifically points out that Alaska Statutes require a hospital to honor a patient's previously expressed desires regarding psychiatric medications.
Ms Myers has suffered with mental illness for over 20 years and her symptoms have at times included paranoia, dizziness, and hallucinations. She has been hospitalized a number of times and placed on psychotropic drugs in the past.
In 2001, she weaned herself off psychotropic drugs, believing that they actually worsened her condition and since then, has described herself as an advocate for the mentally ill.
In February 2003, as a result of concerns of her daughter and neighbors, Ms Myers was involuntarily committed to the API. Once admitted, she refused to discuss treatment options with institute doctors and the API filed a petition with the court requesting authorization to medicate Ms Myers without her consent.
She responded by challenging the constitutionality of the statutory scheme that authorizes facilities to administer psychotropic drugs without the patient's consent and argued that Alaska's constitutional rights to liberty and privacy guarantee her the "right to be free from unwanted mind-altering chemicals."
She asserted that the state can only abridge this right when necessary to advance a compelling state interest and that in her case, the API had "not come close" to making this showing and had also failed to show that involuntary drugging was the least restrictive means of advancing any state interest.
She also challenged the statutory limitation on a court's authority to modify or restrict a treatment plan. The statute authorizing court-ordered administration of psychotropic drugs provides that once a court determines that a patient is not competent to provide informed consent, the court "shall approve the . . . proposed use of psychotropic[s]."
On its face, the Supreme Court noted, this provision does not seem to allow the court to consider whether the treatment plan would actually be in the patient's best interest, leaving that decision completely to the treating facility's physicians.
During Ms Myers's hearing in the lower court, two API psychiatrists testified that administering drugs to Ms Myers would be appropriate.
Ms Myers responded with testimony from her own two expert psychiatrists. The first testified that medication is not the only available treatment for schizophrenia. While acknowledging that drugs played an accepted role in the "standard of care for treatment of psychosis," he testified that, because such drugs "have so many problems," they should be used "in as small a dose for as short a period of time as possible."
Mr Gottstein is speaking at the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology's annual conference being held October 7-9 in Washington, DC, on " Mental Health and the Law."
After being involuntarily committed to the Alaska Psychiatric Institute, Ms Meyers appealed a superior court order approving the administration of psychotropic drugs by the hospital. She argues that the statutes relied on in approving the medication violated the Alaska Constitution's guarantees of privacy and liberty.
The Supreme Court agreed. "In keeping with most state courts that have addressed the issue," it said, "we hold that, in the absence of emergency, a court may not authorize the state to administer psychotropic drugs to a non-consenting mental patient unless the court determines that the medication is in the best interests of the patient and that no less intrusive alternative treatment is available."
With the Supreme Court's decision, trial courts are not only allowed to consider, they are required to consider the safety and effectiveness of the medications in deciding whether the proposed drugging is in the patient's best interest.
The Court specifically points out that Alaska Statutes require a hospital to honor a patient's previously expressed desires regarding psychiatric medications.
Ms Myers has suffered with mental illness for over 20 years and her symptoms have at times included paranoia, dizziness, and hallucinations. She has been hospitalized a number of times and placed on psychotropic drugs in the past.
In 2001, she weaned herself off psychotropic drugs, believing that they actually worsened her condition and since then, has described herself as an advocate for the mentally ill.
In February 2003, as a result of concerns of her daughter and neighbors, Ms Myers was involuntarily committed to the API. Once admitted, she refused to discuss treatment options with institute doctors and the API filed a petition with the court requesting authorization to medicate Ms Myers without her consent.
She responded by challenging the constitutionality of the statutory scheme that authorizes facilities to administer psychotropic drugs without the patient's consent and argued that Alaska's constitutional rights to liberty and privacy guarantee her the "right to be free from unwanted mind-altering chemicals."
She asserted that the state can only abridge this right when necessary to advance a compelling state interest and that in her case, the API had "not come close" to making this showing and had also failed to show that involuntary drugging was the least restrictive means of advancing any state interest.
She also challenged the statutory limitation on a court's authority to modify or restrict a treatment plan. The statute authorizing court-ordered administration of psychotropic drugs provides that once a court determines that a patient is not competent to provide informed consent, the court "shall approve the . . . proposed use of psychotropic[s]."
On its face, the Supreme Court noted, this provision does not seem to allow the court to consider whether the treatment plan would actually be in the patient's best interest, leaving that decision completely to the treating facility's physicians.
During Ms Myers's hearing in the lower court, two API psychiatrists testified that administering drugs to Ms Myers would be appropriate.
Ms Myers responded with testimony from her own two expert psychiatrists. The first testified that medication is not the only available treatment for schizophrenia. While acknowledging that drugs played an accepted role in the "standard of care for treatment of psychosis," he testified that, because such drugs "have so many problems," they should be used "in as small a dose for as short a period of time as possible."
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