B.C. doctors get new guidance on involuntary care for people who use drugs
VICTORIA — British Columbia clinicians have received new guidance about involuntary care for people who use drugs, which includes physicians being told it can’t be used to prevent harmful “risk-taking” by someone who isn’t impaired by a mental disorder.
The guidance from Dr. Daniel Vigo, B.C.’s first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, is aimed at helping clinicians and others decide when involuntary admission is appropriate for people with both mental-health and substance-use disorders.
Vigo says in a news release that involuntary treatment “can be a tool to preserve life and treat the source of impairment” among those with such complex needs.
He says “dispeling misconceptions” about the use of the Mental Health Act is a step toward supporting those patients, in addition to bringing new services online, including mental-health units in corrections facilities and care homes.
