Defining Moments: Supreme Court to Hear Important Health-Related Cases
Defining Moments: Supreme Court to Hear Important Health-Related Cases
Oct. 2, 2000 (Washington) -- The Supreme Court reconvenes today, and among the 47 arguments the high court will hear this session are two unusual, albeit important, health-related cases. Their decisions in these now-famous cases have the potential to produce far-reaching consequences.
One issue involves an involuntary drug testing program for pregnant women in South Carolina that critics say turns a doctor visit into a "sting operation." The other case looks at whether disabled golfer Casey Martin is entitled to use a powered golf cart to ferry him between holes at Professional Golfers' Association (PGA)-sponsored Tour events.
On Wednesday, Oct. 4, the court will hear arguments on a controversial case that involves the extent to which authorities can search a suspect for drug abuse. A pregnant woman went to a hospital in Charleston, S.C., experiencing premature labor pains. But because of a drug test performed without her consent while she was in the hospital, she wound up testing positive for cocaine and went to jail. In fact, she spent three months there. Although this happened 11 years ago, the Supreme Court is now scheduled to hear arguments about whether the state's program to protect babies from the ravages of drugs went too far.
"The whole idea of intervening before the baby is born while the fetus is still viable ... and getting drug treatment then, is because we want to help that child be born drug free," Orb McBurney, spokesman for South Carolina's attorney general, tells WebMD.
David Lewis, MD, project director of the Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy group, takes a different view. "What you're doing is ripping families apart in these procedures. In other words, people underestimate the effects that these procedures and actions have on early childhood development," Lewis, a proponent of medical treatment for drug abusers, tells WebMD.
The other case involves an action by the PGA against Casey Martin, whose need for a powered cart stems from a circulatory problem in his right leg known as Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome. The rare disease makes it painful for Martin to walk long distances at golfing events. Last year, a federal appeals court ruled in Martin's favor, saying that under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a golf cart was a "reasonable accommodation."
Defining Moments: Supreme Court to Hear Important Health-Related Cases
Oct. 2, 2000 (Washington) -- The Supreme Court reconvenes today, and among the 47 arguments the high court will hear this session are two unusual, albeit important, health-related cases. Their decisions in these now-famous cases have the potential to produce far-reaching consequences.
One issue involves an involuntary drug testing program for pregnant women in South Carolina that critics say turns a doctor visit into a "sting operation." The other case looks at whether disabled golfer Casey Martin is entitled to use a powered golf cart to ferry him between holes at Professional Golfers' Association (PGA)-sponsored Tour events.
On Wednesday, Oct. 4, the court will hear arguments on a controversial case that involves the extent to which authorities can search a suspect for drug abuse. A pregnant woman went to a hospital in Charleston, S.C., experiencing premature labor pains. But because of a drug test performed without her consent while she was in the hospital, she wound up testing positive for cocaine and went to jail. In fact, she spent three months there. Although this happened 11 years ago, the Supreme Court is now scheduled to hear arguments about whether the state's program to protect babies from the ravages of drugs went too far.
"The whole idea of intervening before the baby is born while the fetus is still viable ... and getting drug treatment then, is because we want to help that child be born drug free," Orb McBurney, spokesman for South Carolina's attorney general, tells WebMD.
David Lewis, MD, project director of the Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy group, takes a different view. "What you're doing is ripping families apart in these procedures. In other words, people underestimate the effects that these procedures and actions have on early childhood development," Lewis, a proponent of medical treatment for drug abusers, tells WebMD.
The other case involves an action by the PGA against Casey Martin, whose need for a powered cart stems from a circulatory problem in his right leg known as Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome. The rare disease makes it painful for Martin to walk long distances at golfing events. Last year, a federal appeals court ruled in Martin's favor, saying that under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a golf cart was a "reasonable accommodation."
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