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.

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