There are a lot of weird "facts" in this story. I think the reporting is off. No mention of who is the health care proxy. If the victim was not capable of making decisions for his healthcare there should be a family member or trusted individual to be in charge of making decisions on what healthcare he should get. Any operation on a nonagenarian is risky. They never mention what the operation that he needed was and never mentioned his other health issues. I'm sure the doctor while explaining the operation told him of the "possible" side affects of the operation. The old fella might have focused only on the possible side affects and let it get himself all worked up. I've dealt with my elderly mother, my father-in-law and mother-in-laws health care and I can vouch that they often got no idea what's going on and get all upset. Many times it's b/c of being deaf too. No way a nursing home would allow a "butcher" knife in with the residents, especially if they are in permanent nursing care. My mother wasn't allowed an iron. No way should have the police used a beanbag gun on this man. That is just ridiculous. Like a toddler, elders can get very upset and loose all control and need a "time out" to get it back together. These guys need to removed from their jobs.
Guess that means in the future if we don't want something done the doc will call the cops to make us do it.
