A surgical colleague rings you up. He has a 75-year-old woman who needs an operation to remove a breast lump. The lump is malignant but is isolated and there is no evidence of any local or distant spread. Your colleague explains he has told the woman that the operation is fairly straightforward and that after the operation she would be treated with radiotherapy. He states that she is saying she has no wish to have the operation.
He is struggling to understand her decision because not having the operation reduces her chances of survival. He wants you to come and assess her because he feels she must have a mental illness which is rendering her incapable of making the right decision. What conditions must be fulfilled for a person to have the capacity to make a particular decision? *This case is from Docplexus editorial team for educative purpose only Source: Cases in Psychiatry Stay…
