Saturday, November 02, 2002

Ministers rethink Bill to lock up mentally ill (UK)
Story in The Independent - "Ministers are being forced into an embarrassing climbdown over a proposed new law to lock up mentally disordered people who have committed no offence. In the face of unprecedented opposition from professionals, patients and their own officials, and a five-month campaign by The Independent on Sunday, the Government has been forced to rethink the most controversial aspects of the Mental Health Bill." See also Why the Mental Health Bill is pure madness by Jeremy Laurance, health editor of The 'Independent on Sunday, who argues that "in the 10 years since the random killing of Jonathan Zito by paranoid schizophrenic Christopher Clunis, a desire to protect the public has taken priority over care of patients" and that "unless ministers strike the right balance between care and control ....there will be more tragedies."