London:
A British woman whose foot became ulcerated and gangrenous, then literally fell off has won the right to refuse a potentially life-saving leg amputation.
The woman, in her 60s, was told by medics in central England to have her leg amputated after what started as a superficial ulcer on her right foot turned gangrenous, a court heard.
Her foot 'came off' in January, but the patient, who has suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, refused medical advice to have her leg amputated.
Lawyers representing the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust rushed to the Court of Protection in London in a bid to win permission to carry out the op without the woman's agreement, the Birmingham Mail reported.
The judge backed the woman saying that her mental illness has not robbed her of the power to make rational decisions and doctors will have to abide by her wishes.
"The freedom to choose for oneself is a part of what it means to be human," the judge said.
The woman, in her 60s, was told by medics in central England to have her leg amputated after what started as a superficial ulcer on her right foot turned gangrenous, a court heard.
Her foot 'came off' in January, but the patient, who has suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, refused medical advice to have her leg amputated.
Lawyers representing the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust rushed to the Court of Protection in London in a bid to win permission to carry out the op without the woman's agreement, the Birmingham Mail reported.
The judge backed the woman saying that her mental illness has not robbed her of the power to make rational decisions and doctors will have to abide by her wishes.
"The freedom to choose for oneself is a part of what it means to be human," the judge said.
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