Annals of emergency medicine
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Patients generally have the right to refuse medical care, a right based on certain legal precedents. Its application in the emergency department leads to difficult decisions for the emergency physician. ⋯ These include psychiatric patients, narcotics abusers, alcoholics, "street people," and some patients with migraine headaches. They represent some of our most difficult decisions because the treatment required for the patient is often clear and the patient refuses care or demands inappropriate care.