The Role of Civil Commitment in the Opioid Crisis

Ish P Bhalla; Nina Cohen; Claudia E Haupt; Kate Stith; Rocksheng Zhong

doi:10.1177/1073110518782943

The Role of Civil Commitment in the Opioid Crisis

J Law Med Ethics. 2018 Jun;46(2):343-350. doi: 10.1177/1073110518782943.

Authors

Ish P Bhalla¹, Nina Cohen¹, Claudia E Haupt¹, Kate Stith¹, Rocksheng Zhong¹

Affiliation

¹ Ish Prasad Bhalla, M.D., is a fellow in forensic psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine. He received his B.S. from Case Western Reserve University and his M.D. from University of Toledo College of Medicine. Nina Cohen, J.D., received her A.B. from Bryn Mawr College and her MSc from the University of Oxford. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School in May 2018. Claudia E. Haupt, Ph.D., J.S.D., is a Resident Fellow at the Information Society Project and a Research Fellow at the Solomon Center for Health Law & Policy, both at Yale Law School. She received her first law degree and Ph.D. from the University of Cologne, her LL.M. from George Washington University, and her J.S.D. from Columbia Law School. Kate Stith, J.D., is the Lafayette S. Foster Professor of Law at Yale Law School. She received her B.A. from Dartmouth College, and her M.P.P. and J.D. from Harvard University. Rocksheng Zhong, M.D., M.H.S., is a fellow in forensic psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine. He received his A.B. from Harvard College and his M.D. and M.H.S. from the Yale School of Medicine.

PMID: 30146976
DOI: 10.1177/1073110518782943

Abstract

This article seeks to shed light on civil commitment in the context of the opioid crisis, to sketch the existing legal landscape surrounding civil commitment, and to illustrate the relevant medical, ethical, and legal concerns that policymakers must take into account as they struggle to find appropriate responses to the crisis.

MeSH terms

Civil Rights / legislation & jurisprudence
Humans
Inpatients*
Involuntary Treatment / ethics
Involuntary Treatment / legislation & jurisprudence*
Opioid-Related Disorders / therapy*
Residential Treatment*
United States