Lackner

These appeals are from orders appointing the director of the department of health guardian of the persons of appellants, who are mentally disabled persons.

*419 Appellants contend that the appointment of the Director of Health as guardian of their persons, under section 416 of the Health and Safety Code, deprives them and other developmentally disabled persons similarly situated of the protection the relationship is presumed to provide because a conflict of interest is created. Appellants contend that the appointment of the Director of Health as their guardian reduces the guardian-ward relationship to a mere legal fiction.

Appellants concede that as developmentally disabled persons as defined in section 38003, subdivision (h), 1 of the Health and Safety Code, they are in need of a guardian. Appellants point out that they presently reside in state institutions administered by the Director of Health, and that they are eligible for the services of the regional centers which are funded and controlled by the Director of Health. Appellants argue that inherent in this relationship is a potential conflict between the interests of appellants and the interests of their guardian,…