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Coercion And Autonomy Case Study

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Consent, Coercion and Autonomy in the Treatment of Substance Abuse and Addiction Brianna J. Westover Delaware Technical and Community College Historical Implications Addict. The word itself carries with it an enormous stigma. Just over 100 years ago in 1914, the Harrison Act banned the use of opiates and cocaine. Four years later, alcohol prohibition followed, and in 1934, the Marijuana Stamp Act was enacted, prohibiting that substance as well. (American Civil Liberties Union, 2015) The result of this new judicially prohibitive environment was increased crime and incarceration, as evidenced in a short New York Times article from 1926 indicating, “35% of Federal Prisoners are serving sentences for violation of the anti-narcotic law of the …show more content…

Autonomy is defined in Ethics of healthcare: A guide for clinical practice, 3rd Edition as the freedom of the individual “to choose and implement her own decisions, free from deceit, duress, constraint, or coercion” (Edge & Groves. 2006. p. 60). The extent to which addicts are considered competent “autonomous agents” is the true question here, with rights to informed consent and refusal of treatment. What are the criteria for employing the use of coercion and are addicts competent to make decisions regarding their …show more content…

Some commonly professed motives are lower levels of psychological distress, family and social problems, and prior successful treatment experience (Anglin, Hser, Maglione, & Polinsky, 1998). Some come into an Emergency Department with serious acute conditions resulting from their substance use. In cases where the patient is incapacitated, implied consent is applied and lifesaving treatment begins immediately to alleviate the effects of the drugs. The practitioner and patient discuss continued care and substance abuse treatment when the patient recovers from immediate danger. Some patients report with less threatening illnesses in a more conscious state of mind. Here, the practitioner assesses the patient’s risk to themselves or others. These situations are where a knowledge of medical ethics is

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Ferraiolo, K. (2007). From Killer Weed to Popular Medicine: The Evolution of American Drug Control Policy, 1937-2000. Journal of Policy History, 19(2), 147-179 In this article, it discusses the medical use of marijuana, the states that have legalized it and how these states went about doing so. This article also talked about other drugs that are illegal was at one point in time legally used for medical reasons.

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Given the current heroin addiction epidemic, we have learned that educating addictions and counselors an treatment center staff about health insurance appeals rights is vital since insurers of the cover the first two weeks of inpatient treatment but refuse to pay for the full 30 day inpatient stay necessary for

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He reports about criminal justice, the drug war and civil liberties. Radley is also an author of a book named “Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces”. This editorial is targeted to persuade lawmakers and anyone else opposing meth being legal. Lawmakers passed laws that made it more difficult to acquire pseudoephedrine because they believed it would prevent meth from being produced. Several years passed and that clearly is not the case according to several

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One of the most practical challenges is that it makes the professionals to compromise the ethical and moral standards that guides the profession. The rules in the initiatives gives authority for the disclosure of health information to several users of the information without the knowledge or the consent of the consumers (HHS, 2014). This is a loophole that exposes the patients to numerous ethical dilemmas that predispose the experts to situations that may require them to make difficult

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As a medical practitioner, Ray has the right to counsel patients regarding their physical and mental health (aapa.org). However, if Ray’s lecture to Mr. Chang stemmed from his psychomotor developed values of an alcoholic father, his counseling will have personal biases. Pellegrino and Relman (1999) purports that professional practitioners must make morally sound decisions free of preconception of personal experiences and values. Due to the limited nature of emergency room treatment, Ray’s immediate reaction is to lessen the illness and the patient’s ability to be destructive to self or others. Woolard, Cherpitel and Kathleen (2011) provide guidance to Emergency Room practitioners in dealing with patients who abuse alcohol.

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In “The Conflict of Autonomy and Authority” Robert Paul Wolff argues that the state will always be in conflict with the autonomous man, and that the only political doctrine which grants man true autonomy, is anarchism. His argument is based on two main premises. First, he asserts that man has an obligation to achieve autonomy; be responsible for his actions, and make his own decisions. Second, he posits that government-imposed commands can never be more than mere suggestions for the autonomous man; they may be complied with voluntarily, but never perceived as legitimately binding. The state is viewed as illegitimate because it issues laws (commands), which it expects man to follow, which rob man of his autonomy.

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Throughout its history, America has maintained the persistent problem of punishing perpetrators of victimless crimes. One of the most substantial and controversial subjects pertaining to this issue is the matter of illicit drugs and their legalization. In recent years, numerous reforms and revisions have been made to previous drug laws, most often in support of legalizing the possession and use of marijuana. Though these changes are necessary, they should be expanded to protect the users of all currently illegal drugs. Prohibition infringes upon the civil liberties of those who are citizens of the United States, and is a direct threat to the values and standards this nation was founded upon.

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It is an unfortunate reality that intoxication is part of our culture and how many people deal with life and become more social creatures relating to one another. Many people like to get that high and seek a buzz in order to have a good time. One popular drug among may people in today’s society is methamphetamines. Users know the medically prescribed name’s that methamphetamines are referred to by the medical community, as well as, they are familiar with the street slang names for meth that meth are referred to by dealers and addicts. Some of these names used on the street for meth, are known as speed, crystal, glass, chalk, ice, and the seemingly innocent name of, “Tina.”

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According to many surveys across the nation, currently, just over two-thirds of the American public believe the government should emphasize a lesser amount on criminal convictions for re-elections and more focus on offering treatment for people who abuse illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Additionally, a significant proportion of Americans feel that those convicted of possessing small amounts of cannabis should not receive jail time, and there are some states had scrapped the idea of mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenders altogether because of budgetary woes. More importantly, individual states approach towards drug use are beginning to shift from a criminal issue towards and health problem that requires rehabilitation instead of sending more drug offenders to over populated prisons.

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The four major drug control laws were created in order to gain and try to maintain drug issues in many areas. Limitations of the 1906 Pure Food & Drug Act were the first enacted law to regulate drugs in America. The law was created in order to protect the consumers from food that was not tested or approved. Even though the law was created to help, there were several things that it didn’t cover. One important thing it lacked was, it didn’t prevent potential harmful drugs in patented medicine from being sold but it did require that the manufacturers identified certain drugs that might be in these patented medicines.

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The consumption of drugs have always been a part of society, from tobacco used by the native Americans to the coco leaf used by mayans, people exhibit a tendency to use narcotics. While drugs were used for medicinal purposes risks were still associated with them as they are today. As with most things, narcotics can be harmful, and even dangerous, while drugs do not usually cause a society to collapse, it does have a profound effect on how societies function as in the case of the 1900s. While there were positives to the initial inaction of prohibition it was more detrimental than beneficial.

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Even after adopting all medical procedures as prescribed, a qualified doctor may commit an error. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and the Supreme Court have held, in several decisions, that a doctor is not liable for negligence or medical deficiency if some wrong is caused in her/ his treatment or in her/ his diagnosis if she/ he has acted in accordance with the practice accepted as proper by a reasonable body of medical professionals skilled in that particular art, though the result may be wrong. In various kinds of medical and surgical treatment, the likelihood of an accident leading to death cannot be ruled out. It is implied that a patient willingly takes such a risk as part of the doctor-patient relationship and the attendant

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He ‘should’ be alert to the hazards and risks in any professional task he undertakes to the extent that other ordinarily competent members of the profession would be alert. He must bring to any professional task he undertakes no less expertise, skill and care than other ordinarily competent members of his profession would bring, but need bring no more. But for holding a medical professional criminally liable for an offence of medical negligence we must go on by the maxim, “Omne actum ab intentione agentis est judicandum” and see whether there is any intention or not, if there is then he should be prosecuted and punished but if it is missing then test of being ‘gross’ should be applied.

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