IUCB Faculty Investigator, Jane Hartsock, JD, MA, co-authored a piece in JAMA Psychiatry discussing the limitations of capacity evaluation as the key factor in severe Anorexia Nervosa (AN). The piece argues that if capacity is the primary focus when treating patients with AN, the burden of difficult decision-making shifts entirely from physician to patient. It may prevent careful consideration of benefits and burdens and oversimplify the decision-making process.
This piece digs deep into the ethical challenges of decision making in AN and highlights harms that a focus on capacity may have in the setting of severe AN. The article provides though-provoking commentary on a complicated setting in which decision-making matters.
Find the article here.