Week 2: Legal and Ethical Considerations in Addictions

Your client, Simon, who is a surgeon, confides in you about his cocaine addiction. You are certain that Simon is abusing drugs at the same time he is performing surgical procedures on patients.

 

What should you do?  Should you take steps to protect Simon’s patients, or would that be a violation of confidentiality?  Where does the ethical line fall for addiction professionals and what legal requirements are in place?

 

This week, you explore the laws created to protect those with substance abuse disorders and examine how these laws may influence the work of addiction professionals. In addition, you investigate the need for special protections under the law for professionals working in addictions.

 

Learning Objectives

 

Students will:

 

· Analyze anti-discrimination laws related to addictions

 

· Analyze influence of anti-discrimination laws on addiction professionals

 

· Analyze laws related to duty to warn and protect

 

· Analyze need for special protections under the law for addiction professionals

 

Learning Resources

 

Required Readings

 

Lambert, S. F. (2011). Ethical and legal issues in addictions outcome research. Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation, 2(1), 25–36.

 

Courtwright, D. T. (2012). Addiction and the science of history. Addiction, 107(3), 486–492.

 

Robinson, S. M. (2017). “Alcoholic” or “Person with alcohol use disorder”? Applying person-first diagnostic terminology in the clinical domain. Substance Abuse, 38(1), 9-14.

 

Discussion 2: Duty to Warn and Protect

 

Addictions professionals are in a unique position in that they must maintain confidentiality while possessing exclusive knowledge about behavior that may result in injury. How do they balance these conflicting priorities? Under special protection, addictions professionals have the duty to warn and protect if they become aware clients are acting in a way in which their addiction may harm themselves or others. Understanding your legal and ethical obligations and the resulting social consequences is essential when working with an impaired individual whose decisions may have life or death consequences for others.

 

For this Discussion, review this week’s resources as well as the ones that you find in the Walden Library and reputable sources on the Internet. Reflect on different situations in which “duty to warn and protect” laws apply in your state (Ohio). Select a duty to warn and protect law that applies to your role as an addiction professional in the community. Consider why your selected law is important.

 

Provide a Discussion Post containing the following Topics, Content, and Headings: 

 

· A summary of the duty to warn and protect law in the state of Ohio.

 

· Then explain issues or events that necessitated the creation of the law.

 

· Be specific and provide examples to support your response.

 

· Additionally, describe either an addendum that would strengthen the existing law or a new law that you would create and enact to further protect the rights of clients impaired by addictions.

 

· What inequity or limitation are you attempting to address?

 

· What outcomes would you like to see if your law passed?

 

· Support your response using the resources and the current literature.

 

Must contain at least 5 references. Be sure to reference the Ohio laws for Duty to warn and Duty to Protect, The NASW, the CSWE, all contained in the attachment. Reference Lambert (2011) and Robinson (2017)

 

The following relates to Ohio:

 

Several of the Ohio codes include Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 2305.51 Mental health professional or organization not liable for violent behavior by client or patient. This policy, in short, defines the social worker’s duty to warn the potential victim if they believe their client presents an imminent threat to that person, people, and individual. The Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) 5122-3-12 details the Duty to protect requirements. OAC 5122-3-12 is the policy to implement the duty to protect requirement detailed in ORC 2305.51.

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