Ethics of prescribing without consent in suicidal cases is a very real thing to me.

The basic principle is that I do not give a remedy without seeing the person and getting consent.

Several times in the last two years this has come up at the clinic I work at. Each case is different and one must weigh the situation and give treatment based on the symptoms presented. Since in these cases the person comes into the clinic, it is an sign that they want help and is an indication of consent, so we proceed in those cases. We make sure that these persons are not left by themself for the next two days.
When someone other than the patient himself tells about the suicidal person. This is when the question of ethics may comes into play. I personally will not use deception or force a person to take a remedy. I will not give a remedy without seeing the person themself. In this case the patient will say yes or no to taking the remedy themself.
When will the question of giving a remedy without consent happen then? Seldom. Perhaps in the case of schizophrenia. Then in this case there is a guardian to make the decision.
If the person says they do not want to be treated homeopathicly then I will refer them to The Chrisis Centre or other authorities or whatever is available. I will treat them as a fellow human with respect and give as much aid as I can.

I have found that in suicidal conditions that the remedy works very quickly. In five minutes I see a change of expression on the face of the person, and in twenty minutes they can talk rationally.



[This message has been edited by cib (edited 15 July 2000).]