Substituted judgement and the physician's ethical dilemma: with special reference to the problem of the psychiatric patient.

In recent judicial rulings involving use of medication against a patient's will, judges have turned to a special form of substituted judgment--legal guardianship--as a panacea for all problems in this area. The authors delineate, by means of hypothetical cases, some unresolved ethical dilemmas for physicians in these situations and suggest possible resolutions for them.