Woman lawfully held in hospital

A SOUTH African woman has been lawfully detained in a Cork hospital for the last 11 months after refusing to accept treatment…

A SOUTH African woman has been lawfully detained in a Cork hospital for the last 11 months after refusing to accept treatment for a suspected strain of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), the High Court has ruled.

While saying "one would have to be made of stone" not to have sympathy for the woman, Mr Justice John Edwards yesterday rejected arguments her detention was in breach of her rights under the Constitution.

He also said this was one of those rare cases where an order to detain a person in order to protect the public interest could be made.

The woman had claimed her detention was unlawful because there were no proper appeals procedure under the Health Acts. Her action was against the HSE and the hospital, with the Attorney General and Human Rights Commission joined by court order.

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Mr Justice Edwards said the detention order, made under the 1947 Health Act and 1953 Health Amendment Act, was sufficient to detain the woman at this time. It was made after the woman was admitted to the care of the medical team at the Cork hospital.

While he had concerns about the "regrettable" absence of safeguards in the section of the Act under which the detention order was made, the provision was constitutional, and noted it included a right of appeal to the Minister.

The woman's situation was "dire" but, in light of her refusal of treatment, hospital staff were powerless to help her. There was no evidence she was not capable of making her own decisions.

The woman arrived in Ireland in 2001, and became ill towards the end of 2006, when she was initially treated as an in-patient and then as an out-patient by the Cork hospital where she is now detained. She refused treatment, and no specific test has been carried out to determine what, if any, form of TB she may be suffering.

Her detention is under the 1947 Health Act and 1953 Health Amendment Act which allows a committing officer to detain and segregate a person who cannot be cared for in their home and who is a probable source of infection.