"mental dislability" sounds like a very convenient term that has absolutely no medical basis.
I figure it's a broad term that may have any one of a number of underlying medical diagnoses. E.g., schizophrenia, delusional, dementia, etc. The idea being that some people aren't legally qualified to look after their own interests. Ironically, a person with suicidal tendencies might be mentally disabled. Stroke vicitims and head trauma victims likely fit in there too.
I agree. I think that Mae's condition at the time Dr. Jones examined her may have been due to her original weaken state at the time she was transfered from the hospital to hospice (she could have been medicated at the hospital).
Then there was probably further decrease in her ability to appear lucid and coherent after her 9 days at hospice; maybe more drugs and lack of nutrition/hydration. If it's true that her attending physican had the desire to just let her die, then she was probably not receiving substance; either by mouth or by tube. If she was only getting small quantities of jello and a few ice chips...her brain wasn't getting sufficient fuel to funciton properly. Just my opinion...to many things not yet provided as fact.