Psychiatric Ethical Violations

In continuing our ethical discussions surrounding rights and duties, philosopher Immanuel Kant stated that there are a set of moral rules that we must abide by under any circumstance, no matter the consequences. The example provided in this week’s reading suggested the woman hiding in your bushes claiming to running from a man who was trying to kill her. Do you tell the knife-wielding man where the woman was hiding or lie to buy more time, in an attempt to save her life? By trying to prevent the death of the woman, we essentially could have caused her death. The intended result of our lying was to protect the woman but the consequence was her death. Regarding this week’s topic of a mentally ill person having the right to refuse psychiatric …show more content…
However, once they reach the age of sixteen, they have the ability to refuse psychotropic medication, regardless of the need. My forethought is if we allow juveniles to refuse psychotropic medication, how can we remove that right to a death row inmate? It is my understanding that in order to execute an individual on death row, they must undergo and pass a competency evaluation. If they fail to pass the examination, the inmate is forced to undergo psychiatric treatment until they can pass the evaluation. At which time, they can be legally executed. The legal system is in quite the conundrum, in that, they must ensure that they are fulfilling the court ordered requirements, which in this case, is putting the inmate to death, as well as, ensuring the rights of the inmate are being enforced. Regarding Immanuel Kant, I foresee the legal system attempting to be respectful of an inmate’s right to refuse treatment. However, the legal responsibility of the physician is to treat the inmate to restore their cognitive competency so that the execution can be carried out. On the flip-side, one could argue that the very basis of Kantian ethics is to respect the value and worth of others. By failing to adhere to one’s wishes, we are in fact, violating the basis of Kant’s …show more content…
Psychiatrists play an important role in understanding how mental disorders impact a person’s thought processes, judgement and understanding in a manner that we can understand. “It is important to consider the physician’s ethical obligations to his patient and his profession and how those obligations complicate a psychiatrist’s involvement in execution competency restoration” (McDonnell & Phillips, 2010, p.775). In Ford v. Wainwright (1974), the court held that prisoners could not be executed if they were not aware of the punishment that they were about to receive and why they were to receive it. It was this case that set a normative standard of competency prior to being executed to ensure that all that inmates are cognizant of what is going to happen and why they are being punished. The common ground that I foresee, is to medically treat the inmate, bringing them to a level of competency to which they can then formally refuse psychiatric treatment. It would be only then, that I would feel comfortable in moving forward with an execution. It is possible that my experience working with the mentally ill challenges my ability to remain impartial in answering this question. However, I do believe that there is a right to formally refuse treatment but understanding mental health disorders in the manner that I do, I believe it would be best practice to bring an inmate to a level of competency in order