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Using drugs is not linked to incompetence
Editor -I
take issue with David Casey's statements and logic as stated in
his
letter.1
Stress is a problem for medical students and doctors, but the debate
over drug and alcohol misuse has become increasingly hysterical in the
current sociopolitical climate. The argument for routinely testing
doctors is not supported by any
evidence.
Necessary evidence would
have to show that drug misuse is widespread in the medical profession,
that drug misuse reduces competence below acceptable levels and causes
a risk to patients, and that drug testing with appropriate follow up
limits or eliminates this risk. I have not found any such evidence.
Until, in particular, the relation between recreational drug use and
incompetence is established, no rationale for testing doctors
exists.
Also, Casey's
statement that "medical students are exposed to the same illicit
experiences as other students," although ostensibly true, does
not support his argument. Research in 2000 showed that rates of illegal
drug use are falling in the 11-15 year old age
group,2
who will begin to join medical schools in September
2003.
Finally, I do support that it
could take "one event to shatter the public trust in young
doctors." One such event would be the media frenzy caused by a
series of positive drug tests in perfectly competent young doctors,
generated without any evidence to show that these doctors were posing a
risk to anyone but
themselves.
Alexander Scott,fourth
year medical student,University of Leicester
Email: as97@le.ac.uk
- Casey D. Drug abuse among medical students may pose real problem.studentBMJ2003;11;300.
- Department of Health. Boreham R, Shaw A, eds. Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2000. London: Stationery Office,2000. www.doh.gov.uk/public/sddsurvey.htm (accessed 12 Aug 2003)
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