Sometime during the mid-1980s, police picked up a middle-aged man who had been reportedly living "a hermit's life" by sleeping rough in a Dublin bus shelter. All that he had with him was a dog (said to be "on loan") and the clothing he was wearing. He had no identification and police were stymied when they attempted to learn his identity. They couldn't even determine his where he came from originally and all that he could tell them was that he had been in Dublin "for years." Given their lack of options, police then took the man to a Dublin psychiatric hospital.
At the hospital, he was given a tentative name, "John Doe", and, based on his appearance, he was estimated to have been born in 1930. In the decades since he was first admitted, all attempts to learn "John Doe's" true identity and whether he had any living family failed completely. Instead, it was left up to hospital staff to tend to the patient's many medical issues, including schizophrenia and, as he grew older, developing dementia, cardiac, and respiratory problems as well. Completely institutionalized by his long hospital stay, "John Doe" opposed any attempt to move him to a general hospital to receive appropriate medical care and asked to stay where he would be more comfortable. But his health problems were getting worse and the hospital doctors wanted to issue a "do not resuscitate" order for him since resuscitation didn't seem appropriate in his case.
All of which led to a legal quandary as it became apparent that "John Doe's" needed to have the court appoint a legal guardian to approve his medical care and to make all legal decisions for him. In presenting a claim to the Irish High Court under Mr Justice Peter Kelly, the lawyer appointed by Ireland's Health Service Executive stressed his client's inability to function outside the hospital that had been his home for decades.
For now, the judge has placed the case on hold until the patient in question has undergone an independent medical and psychiatric assessment. Whether he will be allowed to stay in the psychiatric hospital, or whether advances in modern technology will finally allow any family members to be identified, still remains to be seen.
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