Addicts Struggle to Get Treatment Because of Stigma

BACK OF THE BUS –

June 7, 2023 – Substance use disorder has long been classified as a disease, but Bousquet and others like him who are in recovery say stigma around this condition is pervasive in the field of medicine. Their stories illustrate the steep social and financial costs of stigma not only for the people who are in recovery but for communities across the country who are grappling with high rates of addiction.

Policies have allowed medical stigma to prosper for decades

It’s not unusual to find patients in the Emergency Room at Seattle’s Harborview Hospital with everything they own stowed under a chair. The facility is downtown. Harborview sees people grappling with homelessness and substance abuse every day.

“We try to do the best we can for the patients that we see,” says emergency room physician Dr. Herbert Duber. But he admits that patients struggling with substance abuse are mistreated by medical professionals, even at his own institution. “There’s no question that happens. Does it happen universally? No? But does it happen? Absolutely.”