Physicians in psychiatric wards and clinic managers are of the opinion that medication-based interventions, even against the will of the persons affected, are fundamentally not restrictions of freedom, but are a necessary part of psychiatric treatment. They state that this is why the Hospitalisation Act provides for special regulations for medical treatment including special curative treatment. For physicians a part of the treatment In contrast, the CPT again explicitly confirms in its current report that it does not share this rationale. The CPT emphasises that excited or violent patients, who are subjected to a medication-based measure, should in principle enjoy the same protective measures as patients who are subjected to other forms of restriction of freedom. Therefore, the CPT has recommended that medication-based restrictions of freedom in psychiatric hospitals be recorded in central registers for such measures and that patient advocates should be notified. CPT recommends the same level of protection Even if the provisions of Section 33 of the Hospitalisation Act refer primarily to mechanical/physical or electronic measures that restrict freedom, some legal teachings uphold the legal opinion that under certain circumstances a restriction of the freedom of movement can be assumed in the event of pharmacological interventions. In a decision from 1997, the Supreme Court also set out that “in the event of massive restrictions of the freedom of movement” it does not matter whether the restriction of freedom occurs by way of physical coercive measures or by way of pharmacological interventions. Therefore, in accordance with the prevailing legal situation, medication-based restraint against the patients’ will can sometimes be considered as a restriction of the freedom of movement within the meaning of Sections 2 and 33 of the Hospitalisation Act. Pharmacological interventions as restrictions of freedom These considerations show how important it would be to take the recommendations of the CPT from 2009 and 2015 into account. In the meantime, the Ministry of Health has admitted to the NPM that after open questions in the area of application of the Hospitalisation Act have been clarified, there will be a need for action in light of Supreme Court case law as well. Federal Ministry of Health sees need for action The creation of an Austria-wide guideline “for alternatives to net beds” was discussed during a meeting of the Advisory Council for Mental Health. At this meeting, the representatives of the Austrian Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and the Austrian Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry stated they were prepared to jointly develop such guidelines. These guidelines will also address and regulate medication-based restrictions of freedom.  Medication-based restrictions of freedom can also occur within the scope of medical treatment in psychiatric hospitals.  Austria-wide guidelines must be developed in accordance with the recommendations of the CPT by the Societies for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and for Child and Adolescent 54