Posted by 8 Miles on December 22, 2003, at 19:06:25
In reply to Pain Medication Discontinued After The Attempt, posted by Trisha Longhair on December 22, 2003, at 0:57:54
Wow! Now THAT'S digging into the archives! I have an answer that would explain most Pdoc's resonse to your question. Yes, it is INDEED ethical to remove the item from someone who used it to attempt suicide. Even a hint of over(self)medicating on a controlled substance would make any reasonable Doc pull the plug on that substance. I mean I have seen that happen many times. When my wife was in a "suicical" mood, and was just taking like 3.5mgs of Tranzene (which is like candy at that dose) her Pdoc pulled her off of it immediately, and after a year has refused to scribe her any anxiolytics. I mean it's the same as someone who tried to shot themselves with a gun, are you just going to walk away and let them keep it in their lap? I don't think so. Suicial ideation runs in cycles, and one never knows when it may come back to visit. So, the responsible thing to do IS to remove that particular item. It's just common sense to me. However, I think if someone has gone a long time and had followed through with treatments, that if a particular med would be beneficial, it could be returned on a very limited basis, maybe a week's worth at a time. I mean I am very open-minded when it comes to using controlled substances to treat certain conditions. But your basic question is about the ETHICAL reasoning of a Doc, and I firmly believe that this is one of the hardest thing medical providers have to struggle with. And I would support that decision as reasonable and appropriate.
8
poster:8 Miles
thread:21882
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20031217/msgs/292512.html