Urgent assessment of decision-making capacity in a patient with schizophrenia and an evolving myocardial infarction who is refusing care.

It is not typical that an urgent psychiatry consultation regarding decision-making capacity is required to save a life; however, this was the case for a middle-aged woman with schizophrenia who presented with a myocardial infarction and was fully oriented to the situation yet was refusing potentially life-saving treatment. Although this case brings up classic yet complicated issues relating to decision-making capacity with a presentation that is rarely reported, it also raises questions about how the current emphasis on patient autonomy can affect patient care in the current medical-ethical-legal landscape.