Draft law protects right of mentally ill

Mental-heath patients facing compulsory hospitalization and treatment could appeal the decision in court instead of relying on medical appraisals, a draft law proposes.

The draft law on mental health, which went to the National People's Congress Standing Committee for its second reading on Monday morning, states that mental-health patients and their relatives can sue administrative agencies, hospitals and other institutions if they believe the patient's rights have been violated.

The change targets patients who are forced to receive treatment in a hospital because they "threaten the safety of others or have impeded the safety of others", according to the draft law.

The proposed change was introduced after calls for courts to make decisions about forced hospitalization and treatment to prevent power abuses, experts said.

In the law's first reading in October, mental-health patients are allowed to apply for medical appraisals only if they disagree with their treatment.

The revision also says that mental-health patients and their relatives can apply for a medical appraisal once in cases of forced medical treatment. The bill originally said the patient and families could seek an appraisal twice.

Hong Hu, deputy director of the NPC Law Committee, explained in the bimonthly session that opened on Monday that the change is proposed to be cost-effectivene, since "two appraisals can last up to 60 days, which is too long".

Forced in-house treatment for mental patients went on center stage after Xu Wu, a 43-year-old Hubei resident, claimed that he had been wrongfully rehabilitated for repeated petitioning. Xu said he had been illegally kept in a hospital from 2006 to 2011 after he had complained about making low wages when he had worked as a security guard.

But an official investigation concluded that Xu should still receive medical treatment for paranoia after Xu was released in May 2011.