CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Bill on Involuntary Medication Stalls

A controversial measure to overturn a court decision that allowed mentally ill patients to refuse anti-psychotic drugs was stalled in the Assembly Health Committee. Lacking the votes to move his bill through committee, Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside) asked that action be delayed while he negotiates with the opposition. Last year’s court decision requires psychiatrists to obtain the informed consent of even those patients hospitalized against their will before administering medication. Presley’s bill would require that psychiatrists get a second opinion from a fellow doctor before forcing the drugs on their patients but would allow them to administer the drugs before any outside review.