Do patients addicted to drugs truly have capacity?

"We care for patients suffering from addictions every shift and are often the only care providers they can turn to. Despite our best efforts, we are often forced to watch as these patients continually succumb to their addiction, sacrificing their bodies as collateral damage in the battle.

What frustrates me the most is that every time one of these patients leaves against medical advice, they are deemed to have the capacity to refuse medical treatment. I suppose in the strictest legal sense they do. They understand and can repeat back the risks of leaving without proper treatment. They understand that forgoing this treatment can ultimately lead to their death."

Gregory Jasani is an emergency medicine resident.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD articles, "Do patients addicted to drugs truly have capacity?" (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/03/do-patients-addicted-to-drugs-truly-have-capacity.html) and "Please don't make physicians choose." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/04/please-dont-make-physicians-choose.html)