Supreme Court of the Republic of Latvia
18 October 2013
Facts
The applicant, Mr. D., after being aggressive, was taken to a closed psychiatric hospital. He was not asked whether he agrees to his hospitalization. A medication was injected to him without his permission and later during his almost 2 months stay in the hospital he was forced to use medication unknown to him.
Complaint
The applicant complained that he was not properly informed about the medication used in his treatment and that he was forced to use it.
Court's ruling
The Court found that Latvian law obliged the doctors to inform persons who are treated involuntarily about the means of their treatment. The applicant was not given the opportunity to informed consent – he was not informed what kind of medicine is administered to him and neither he had a choice to accept it or not. In the Court’s view the medication was administered to him without his explicitly showed consent and therefore unlawfully.