Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde
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Two women, aged 31 and 36 years, under treatment for schizophrenia and psychotic episodes, respectively, became pregnant and decided to discontinue their medication. Thereupon the psychiatric disorder recurred and they refused--i.e. they were unable--to consent to a proposed treatment or investigation regarding their pregnancies. ⋯ In the second case approval from the judge was obtained for the patient to be admitted against her will to protect her life and that of the foetus. In the Netherlands obstetric intervention to protect the life of the mother or her unborn child is legally regulated by the Wet Bijzondere Opnemingen in Psychiatrische Ziekenhuizen (Act on Compulsory Admissions to Psychiatric Hospitals) and the Wet op de Geneeskundige Behandelingsovereenkomst (Act on Agreement Concerning Medical Treatment).
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Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd · Apr 2002
Case Reports[Tetanus in a young unvaccinated girl after a fall in the street].
A 4-year-old girl developed tetanus after she had fallen on the street a week before. She had never been vaccinated and despite pressure from the family practitioner, the parents refused to allow her to be given human anti-tetanus immunoglobulin as a matter of principle after the wound had been stitched. Seven days later she was admitted to hospital with trismus and risus sardonicus. ⋯ Finally she made a complete clinical recovery. Thanks to the extensive national vaccination program, tetanus has become a rare disease in the Netherlands. However, the very serious course and possible fatal outcome warrant a keen attitude and adequate treatment.