List Archives

Thu Aug 17 15:06:33 BST 2006

I feel that screening trauma victims for alcohol and drugs of abuse is medically necessary to give the provider information necessary for optimum care. Drugs and alcohol can complicate diagnosis and management. However, it is rather presumptuous to believe that the emergency/trauma team can 'intervene' with any real degree of success. Although sentinel events in the life of addicts/alcoholics are opportunities for intervention, success in this area usually requires significant social resources that are lacking in the lives of many people (family support, etc). Further, physicians must avoid becoming involved in the role of enforcement, lest we loose the trust of our patients. Patient information about drug/alcohol use acquired by physicians to assist in providing medical care should remain part of the medical record, and should not be available to insurance companies and law enforcement to further destroy the lives of those already befallen. State laws which provide for the acquisi
tion of evidence when officials are investigating a crime have been in place for years, and have been successful. DB

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Alcohol Screening