Margot Bentley Does NOT Have Capacity to Revoke Her Prior Instructions to VSED

In the Spring 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Ethics, I criticized the British Columbia court's decision in Bentley. 



The court said that because Bentley swallowed when she a spoon was inserted in her mouth, she has the capacity to make the decision about whether to eat and drink.  But Bentley is in stage 7 Alzheimer's.  The case is now on appeal.



Strolling through Dartmouth's Hood Museum, this morning, I was reminded of this common image.  The baby Jesus seems to be blessing people.  This seems to be a paradigm example of "imputing" capacity to someone who clearly does not have it.  Jesus is, of course, an exceptional case.  Margot Bentley is not.