Woman ‘refused to leave bed’ for 4 years

A woman appears to have remained in bed for almost four years before presenting to hospital malnourished and “on the brink of death”, the president of the High Court has heard.

“Even by the standards of awfulness I have to deal with on a daily basis, this is one of the worst cases I have ever encountered,” Mr Justice Peter Kelly said.

The woman, in her 30s, was living with her mother in “horrendous conditions”. She seemed to have been spoon-fed by her mother and to have refused to leave the bed from late 2015.

What was “truly distressing” was suggestions a GP had provided certificates of her sickness at her mother’s request without having seen her during that time, the judge said. It also appeared there were prescriptions for medications.

On the application of the HSE, the High Court had made emergency orders on September 23 allowing doctors, in the context of an intended wardship application, treat the woman in circumstances where she was refusing to allow various tests and treatments.

When the case returned before Mr Justice Kelly yesterday, Donal McGuinness, for the HSE, noted, when the woman was first admitted, she was on the brink of death with a haemoglobin level of 1.5 and in renal failure. Her weight was 28kg and she had an “incredibly low” Body Mass Index (BMI) of 10.4.

A bowel blockage was later detected, requiring emergency surgical treatment which was successful. Since admission, her weight has risen by 5kg but her BMI, despite rising to 11.9, remained critical.

She remains at risk, including from refeeding syndrome, and counsel said he wanted orders for various continuing treatments. The limited history available for the woman seemed to suggest an underlying psychotic disorder and the medical view was she lacks capacity to consent to treatment, he said.