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Prisoner or Patient?

Are Correctional Facilities Adequately Caring for the Health of Their Inmates? According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), incarcerated individuals are “disproportionately affected by chronic health conditions, mental illness, and substance abuse. However, they tend to receive inadequate healthcare before, during, and after incarceration or detention, further exacerbating their disadvantage.” As of 2016, Read More...

Medically Conscious but Legally Unconscious?

Conscious or Unconscious? Can someone be medically conscious but considered legally unconscious? What an interesting conundrum! According to the Oxford Dictionary, “unconsciousness is the state of being unconscious or the state of being uninformed or unaware” and “automatism is the performance of actions without conscious thought or intention, involuntary” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021). Even in Read More...

Effect of Brain Damage on Personality

How can brain damage be used to create reasonable doubt? In 1990, a 40-year-old schoolteacher suddenly began using prostitutes and making inappropriate advances to his stepdaughter. The courts ordered him to go to Sexaholics Anonymous or go to prison. He failed the program because he kept asking people for sex. The hospital found a large Read More...

Delirium & Psychosis in the Hospitalized Patient

Delirium in criminal cases Hypothetically, there is a case where the defendant was injured in a car accident and being cared for the in the ICU. During his hospitalization, he demonstrates bizarre behavior and is diagnosed with a psychotic break. His behavior is presumed to be the cause of the accident and psychiatric care is Read More...