Abstract:
Re LP (adult patient: medical treatment) confronted, for the first time, the difficult question of whether an incompetent patient should be kept alive by invasive medical procedures notwithstanding an earlier indication (while competent) rejecting that procedure even if it would lead to her death. This case comment examines the approach taken by the court in arriving at the decision and analyses whether the approach is congruent with our legal jurisprudence and our moral instincts as to the practical consequences that the decision will engender. It also considers the direction that the law ought to take and the role of the courts in deciding such matters.