The Pros And Cons Of Drug Abuse

Since birth, children are always told to “not take drugs” even sponsoring a “Red Ribbon Week” to promote a drug free way of living. However, once those kids enter the world and become adults they are pushed to take prescription drugs to ease their lives. The constant theme seen is simply “Feeling down? Take a drug!” The problem is that children are only informed about the “bad drugs” such as tobacco, cocaine, and morphine to name a few; they aren’t notified at all about a pharmacy’s over-the-counter drugs. Pharmaceuticals are typically known to improve people’s lives that are suffering of medical issues. However fatal drug abuse are at an all time high and these are not the “bad drugs,” they are the drugs that doctors give to their clients.

Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Joan Rivers, Heath Ledger, Whitney Houston, and Michael Jackson all died by drug overdose. Shockingly enough, these were prescribed drugs meaning that doctors handed over a “death bill” to their patients. Physicians are not ethically responsible enough and remiss their patients of a prescription. For example, physicians do not have a lot of time in their day so when a patient comes in asking for a medication, many doctors will readily hand it to them. If the doctor thinks the medication is not necessary or appropriate, it would take some time to dissuade the

She believes that criminal liability would prevent physicians from prescribing unnecessary medications to their patients. Doctors are currently able to face civil liability for the death of a patient by the victim’s family for monetary value. A civil liability is when another person is suing for they have suffered an actual loss, i.e. personal injury, damage to property, and/or financial loss whereas a criminal liability is when a state prosecutes against the defendant and can face fines and imprisonment. Criminal liability can deter physicians of selling their services for profit and violate their Hippocratic Oath (where physicians swear under oath to uphold specific ethical standards). Doctors are also capable of being convicted for the fatal drug abuse of a patient via the Controlled Substances Act as seen with Dr. Murray. The Controlled Substances Act requires any physician that wishes to prescribe controlled substances must register with the Drug Enforcement Association, which then must follow their specific guidelines. These guidelines include that prescriptions must be dated and include the name and address of the patient and the prescribing doctor (Trachtman). Most violations lead to a temporary suspension of all medical licenses however, if the physician is convicted of homicide “under a