Passive Pushers
Prescription Abuse
Unfortunately, the lack of ideals mentioned in this article is not the only ethical situation that doctors have to answer for. Anyone who has worked in drug treatment for the last two years knows who the “passive pushers” are.
Drug Addiction to Oxycontin, Xanax, Adderall and other prescription medications usually start in the doctor’s office. However, the addiction is never successfully treated there.
It is left up to society and drug rehab to pick up the pieces.
Centuries from now these doctors will be known as the doctors of a dark age – one of medical ignorance and callous.
A study from the Harvard Medical School found that 17 percent of doctors knew of drunk, addicted or otherwise incompetent colleagues, but one-third said they did nothing to report fellow physicians’ dangerous behavior, the Associated Press reported July 13.
The findings come from a 2009 survey of 1,891 doctors practicing in the U.S.
While the American Medical Association and many state laws require doctors to report their colleagues if they behave in a way that could endanger their patients, the study suggests many physicians don’t know where to turn, or believe they could suffer reprisals if they do take action.
Matthew Wynia, director of the AMA Institute for Ethics, doesn’t believe that matters. “I don’t think there’s any excuse for less than 100 percent of physicians holding true to these ideals,” he said…