At issue in Guardianship of L.H., __ Mass. App. Ct. __, 2014 Mass. App. LEXIS 5 (Jan. 24, 2014), were two Probate and Family court substituted judgment proceedings regarding whether an individual was able to rationally evaluate a proposal to take antipsychotic medication, and if so, would that individual choose to take the medication. 

In affirming the trial judge’s conclusion that the proposed treatment plan was warranted, the Appeals Court applied the six-factor test under Rogers v. Commissioner of the Dept. of Mental Health, 390 Mass. 489 (1983). The factors to be considered are: (1) the patient's expressed preferences regarding treatment (if made while competent, such a preference is entitled to great weight unless the judge finds that the patient would have changed his or her opinion after reflection or in altered circumstances); (2) the strength of the incompetent patient's religious convictions, to the extent that they may contribute to his or her refusal of treatment; (3) the impact of the decision on the ward's family; (4) the probability of adverse side effects; (5) the prognosis without treatment; and (6) the prognosis with treatment. In addition, any other factors which may appear relevant in the particular circumstances may be reviewed.

Quite by coincidence, a week later the Library presented an interactive videoconference featuring Dr. Elyn R. Saks, Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the USC Gould School of Law, Los Angeles, on the issues considered in Guardianship of L.H., entitled “Competency, Substituted Judgment and Forced Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness.”

Co-sponsored by the Mental Health Litigation Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the Social Law Library, UMASS School of Law, the Flaschner Judicial Institute, and the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, the conference was broadcast simultaneously at the Social Law Library and UMASS School of Law, Dartmouth. The well-attended one-hour presentation was followed by a lively one-hour Q&A session.

Mental health resources at the Social Law Library include: Mental Health Law (Mass. Practice vol. 53), CPCS Mental Health Proceedings in Massachusetts (MCLE), Law & Mental Health Professionals (American Psychological Association), Mental & Physical Disability Law Reporter (ABA), and the online catalog.