Is Something Fundamentally Wrong With the Country and the Health Care System If…?

Question by Joanne L: Is something fundamentally wrong with the country and the health care system if…?
Adult children take their mother to court because they are afraid she will drink herself to death if left on her own (she won’t to into detox). There is a procedure that family members can undertake in this situation. She is essentially “arrested” and taken to court which will potentially forcing her to detox after a trial. She arrives defiantly while in a drunken stupor. The judge sees, while reviewing her case that her life indeed may be in danger, so he issues her into a forced detex.. She doesn’t have health insurance, so there are no beds available for her. There are beds in a number of different locations, but all the ones specifically designated for non-insured patients are filled. Since she now can’t be released (because the court deemed her a danger to herself), she is thrown into jail. She spends 40 days in jail. She gets her own room but in all other ways is treated like any other inmate. Apparently this is a common occurrence.
The law was set up in the first place to help in situations like this. She is technically not supposed to end up in jail. It is a failure of the health insurance system in my opinion. I believe a society can be judged according to how it treats it’s most helpless. You may want to demonize someone for doing this to themselves, but would prefer the road of compassion. You can never understand another without first stepping in their shoes.
The writing above was directed towards iooioiio…
darwinman-
Did I ever say I wanted to live in a “nanny state”, with every aspect of life being taken care of. No I didn’t. Did you stop to think that a person like this may be more harmful to society by not being helped? We need to look at addiction as a healthcare issue and have universal healthcare. Then the problem will be solved and she can get the proper detox and treatment she needs. Europe has done this and they have a better economy than us, better healthcare, and haven’t become communists.

Best answer:

Answer by iooioiioo
Yes, there is an error. If the grown woman wants to drink her self into oblivion, she has the constitutional right to destroy herself.

Answer by Joe the Social Worker
As a social worker, I’m confronted and involved in these situations more often than I would like. The government needs to ensure the health and safety of individuals who demonstrate that they can not care for themselves (It falls under the Federal Vulnerable Adult Act / Maltreatment of Minors Act). In this case, the court and those involved in the case (children, police, legal counsel and judge) deemed this to be at a “crisis” level. Clearly, they detained her due to evidence that she is at risk of serious harm, if not death.

It’s incredibly sad that this mother is being put into a system that offers no assistance to her. After all, locking a person up may “detox” her from alcohol. But there are no safeguards that this couldn’t happen again. Specifically, now she has jail time over her head (and not the ideal form of intervention, which is therapy, rehab and/or official detox).

In Minnesota, there is a state-funded program called Rule 25. This rule is created by the state’s department of human services to ensure that if people receive court ordered detox or treatment, the state will pay for such services. All that a person has to do is meet with a social worker who administers a “Rule 25 Assessment” of alcohol and drug use and risk and recommends that the state pay for treatment.

There are many states that offer these programs to assist people who cannot pay for these services (thus, eliminating the need for jail time). I encourage the family to go on-line and look at services that their state’s department of human services have to ensure treatment for their mother. They’ve already taken away her rights, by the sound of this temporary guardianship — they should take the responsibility to ensure her recovery as well.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

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