Question
You are a lawyer working for the NHS Riddlesex College Hospital Trust and have been approached by the emergency department with questions about the legal
You are a lawyer working for the NHS Riddlesex College Hospital Trust and have been approached by the emergency department with questions about the legal rules and restrictions that they must obey with regard to two specific patients:
Andrei, a 26-year-old male was brought into the emergency department after being found by neighbours with numerous cuts over his arms and having lost a significant amount of blood. He remained fully conscious and was informed that without a transfusion that there is a major risk he could die. Andrei has explained to the doctors that he is responsible for the cuts, and that he has been doing it ever since he was 17-years-old to keep himself from hurting people. This is because he believes that the blood inside him is actually concentrated evil that will make him kill if he ever allows himself to get full of blood. The doctors have explained that they will use donated blood, not the patient's own to save him, however, the patient is obsessed with the TV show 'Twilight Games' which is about evil vampires infecting humans to make them kill. Andrei explains to the staff that the blood in the hospital will infect him and make his compulsion to kill even stronger, corrupting him from the inside out and turning him into a soulless vampire who will go on to kill many innocent people. The doctors are asking you if they would be able to get a court order that would allow them to force Andrei to get the transfusion?
Binta is a very young looking 19-year-old female that is often mistaken for a 15-year-old. She was in a car accident and while quite seriously injured she has remained fully conscious. The doctors told her that they must replace vital fluids in her body or she would die. Binta has stated that she does not want to die, but she is a devout Jehovah's Witness and that her faith does not allow her to accept a transfusion. The doctors tell her that she is unlikely to live without the blood transfusion, but that she could increase her chances of survival if she accepts a plasma transfusion, which is not against the Jehovah Witness faith. Binta suffers from a severe needle phobia and is so terrified that she tells the doctors that other Jehovah Witnesses have it wrong, and that plasma transfusions are just as bad as blood, that anything coming from a needle is evil. In fact, every time the doctor enters the room with a needle she simply begins to scream incoherently. She has repeatedly stated that she does not want to die. The doctors are asking you if they would be able to get a court order that would a) allow them to force Binta to take a blood transfusion to comply with her stated desire not to die; or b) allow them to force Binta to take a plasma transfusion to reduce the risk of her dying?
write a legal argument, using the relevant legislation and case law, and outline the most likely outcomes to the hospital's questions.
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