Civil Competencies Lecture Flashcards
(30 cards)
All the following are true except:
a. Competence requires an understanding of relevant information.
b. Competence is task specific.
c. Competence is a medical judgment.
d. Competence can change over time.
c. Competence is a medical judgment.
All of the following are true of a competent testator making a will except:
a. He or she must appreciate the extent of his or her assets.
b. He or she must be able to identify his or her natural heirs.
c. The Will must distribute the assets according to the rules of intestate succession.
d. The testator must know that he or she is making a will.
c. The Will must distribute the assets according to the rules of intestate succession.
All the following are true except:
a. The degree of competence required to enter into a contract exceeds that degree of competence required to make a will.
b. Some persons with dementia may be competent to execute a will.
c. Persons with schizophrenia are presumed incompetent to make medical decisions.
d. To show incompetence, it must be shown that the mental disease affects judgment related to the specific decision at issue.
c. Persons with schizophrenia are presumed incompetent to make medical decisions.
In Nathanson versus Klein, a model of informed consent disclosure was adopted that followed the principle that:
a. The physician would follow the reasonable person standard.
b. An incompetent patient could not be denied life-sustaining treatment without extensive disclosure of the risks of not having the proposed treatment.
c. Disclosure must include risks of declining a recommended procedure.
d. Disclosure and research would be greater for civilly committed patients.
e. The physician would follow the reasonable medical practitioner model.
e. The physician would follow the reasonable medical practitioner model.
Informed consent for medical treatment involves understanding of:
a. The medical condition.
b. The risks and benefits of the proposed treatment.
c. The likely outcome if no treatment is undertaken.
d. Alternatives to the proposed treatment.
e. All of the above.
e. All of the above.
Exceptions to informed consent for medical treatment include all of the following except:
a. Therapeutic Waiver.
b. Therapeutic privilege.
c. Best interests.
d. Emergency.
e. Incompetency.
c. Best interests.
Landmark case of Kaimowitz versus Michigan Department of Mental Health had what effect on research:
a. It broadened the capacity to conduct research with sex offenders, given the importance of learning more about this population.
b. It distinguished civilly committed patients from Community patients and permitting greater research on those in institutions.
c. It provided a model of informed consent that would facilitate research on institutionalized persons.
d. It improved the capacity to conduct research on community based mental health treatment consumers.
e. Effectively limited research with institutionalized persons.
e. Effectively limited research with institutionalized persons.
In order to be considered competent to testify, a person must be all of the following except:
a. older than age 8.
b. Able to know the difference between a truth and a lie.
c. Able to remember the event.
d. Understand what it means to testify under oath.
a. older than age 8.
Potential research subjects should be informed of:
a. The nature and purpose of the research.
b. The limits of confidentiality.
c. The risks and potential benefits of the research.
d. That they can withdraw at any time.
e. All of the above.
e. All of the above.
Components of competence include:
a. Ability to communicate a choice.
b. Ability to understand relevant information.
c. Ability to appreciate the situation and its likely consequences.
d. Ability to manipulate information rationally and relevantly.
e. All of the above.
e. All of the above.
Each of the following findings would be sufficient to find a mentally ill person incompetent to manage his finances, except:
a. The person squanders his or her money.
b. The person hoards assets to the point of being unable to provide for his or her necessities.
c. The person refuses to listen to sound financial advice of his or her family and may risk bankruptcy in the future.
d. The person is easily victimized by designing persons.
c. The person refuses to listen to sound financial advice of his or her family and may risk bankruptcy in the future.
In Hargrave versus Vermont, the court held that:
a. Involuntary antipsychotic medication can be mandated once a patient has been declared incompetent.
b. An incompetent patient would qualify for involuntary medication despite expressed advanced wishes to the contrary.
c. The ADA provides an exception that would invalidate a patient’s psychiatric advanced practice directives (APDs)
d. A patients psychiatric advanced directive could not be denied on the basis of mental illness.
e. The ADA does not allow discrimination but psychiatric advanced directives are invalidated once a patient has been committed.
d. A patients psychiatric advanced directive could not be denied on the basis of mental illness.
What are the components of incompetence?
- A person has a mental disease
- The disease causes a defect in judgment
- The defect in judgment causes a specific incapacity
What is the capacity to make a last will and testament?
testamentary capacity
What are the three elements of testamentary capacity?
They must understand:
1. They are writing a will
2. The extent of their bounty (property)
3. Those who have natural claims upon their bounty.
Sometimes they have to have an understanding of how property will be distributed or the effect of the will on others.
When is testamentary capacity assessed?
At the time the will is written.
What are two elements that can invalidate a will?
- Insane delusion
- Undue influence
What is required to prove undue influence in wills?
- Pressure was applied unfairly to benefit the person exercising the undue influence
- Requires an element of coercion, compulsion, or restraint so that the will does not represent the wishes of the testator
It can negate a will even if the testator has testamentary capacity.
When is a contract invalid concerning competence to enter into a contract?
When one party did not have a true understanding of what they were doing due to a mental illness.
Entering into a contract requires a greater degree of competence, given the adversarial nature of a breached contract.
What are the two types of guardianship?
- Guardian of the person (plenary)
- Guardian of estate (conservator)
What are the consequences of being placed under guardianship?
- May not enter into a contract
- May not control funds
- May not enter lawsuits
- Rebuttable presumption - lack of testamentary capacity
What were the issues and holdings for Zinermon v. Burch (1990)?
A Florida man is walking down the highway.
Mr. Burch argued that he was incompetent to consent to his own admission and was therefore deprived of due process of law, as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
The USSC held that Mr. Burch was entitled to raise his claim in federal court. The court reasoned, “the very nature of mental illness makes it foreseeable that a person needing mental health care will be unable to understand an proffered explanation and disclosure of the subject matter.”
It required that voluntary admission procedures be used to screen for competency in voluntary admissions.
What are the three elements of informed consent?
- voluntariness
- disclosure/information
- competence
What was the holding in Canterbury v. Spence (1972)?
Lamnectomy resulted in paralysis.
The appellate court said that the proper standard for disclosure is not the reasonable medical practitioner standard, but rather, a standard driven by the patient’s needs.
