The Lancet has a commentary piece arguing that is unethical for doctors to force feed patients:

We write regarding the forcefeeding and restraint of Guantanamo Bay detainees currently on hunger strike.1,2 The World Medical Association specifically prohibits forcefeeding in the Declarations of Tokyo and Malta, to which the American Medical Association is a signatory.

Fundamental to doctors’ responsibilities in attending a hunger striker is the recognition that prisoners have a right to refuse treatment. The UK government has respected this right even under very difficult circumstances and allowed Irish hunger strikers to die. Physicians do not have to agree with the prisoner, but they must respect their informed decision. Those breaching such guidelines should be held to account by their professional bodies. John Edmondson (former commander of the hospital at Guantanamo) instigated this practice, and we have seen no evidence that procedures have changed under the current physician in charge, Ronald Sollock.

The bf asked me if we force feed patients in any other case, and we most certainly do. In people with eating disorders, often the treatment for their complications (often very slow heart rates) is force feeding for nutrition. These patients (and others) are generally judged not to be competent to make their medical decisions, and so their family members, or their physicians, make their medical decisions for them. However, if a person is judged to be confident, it’s my understanding that they cannot ethically be forced to do anything, including eating. I have to agree with the comments from The Lancet. Dr. Sollock is breaching his code of medical ethics.

Comments Off on Ethics of Force Feeding Prisoners