California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Velasco, D066582 (Cal. App. 2015):
[citation]' and while they can eliminate undesirable behaviors, they also interfere with a person's autonomy and can impair his ability to function in certain contexts. [Citation.] Second, while antipsychotic medication has well-documented therapeutic benefits, the medication has serious, even fatal, side effects." (People v. O'Dell (2005) 126 Cal.App.4th 562, 568-569.)
Nonetheless, a court may authorize the involuntary administration of antipsychotic medication to restore a defendant's trial competence if "the Government, in light of the efficacy, the side effects, the possible alternatives, and the medical appropriateness of a particular course of antipsychotic drug treatment, [has] shown a need for that treatment sufficiently important to overcome the individual's protected interest in refusing it." (Sell v. United States (2003) 539 U.S. 166, 183.)
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