But this is true only if you are no longer drinking or abusing drugs, or if your medical condition is so severe that the damage caused by the drinking or drugs is irreversible. The first preclinical research on drug addiction focused on the phenomenon of reward. The experimental paradigm used was based on Skinner’s47 research on operant conditioning and reinforcement, whereby the consequences of a behavior increase the probability that the behavior will be repeated. This paradigm explains not only opioid abuse maintenance but also that of psychostimulants (some of which are used in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]), alcohol, nicotine, and the anesthetic hallucinogens ketamine and phencyclidine. Increasingly, Justice Department attorneys are leveraging the law to try to overcome some of the rampant discrimination that people with substance use disorders face. The cases typically center on people who are penalized because they take medication for opioid addiction — treatments that are considered the gold-standard — and on people who are denied those medications, particularly in the criminal justice system.
Once a disabled individual develops an addiction to prescription Opioids, they will often end up switching over to cheaper and more readily available drugs — such as Heroin — when their prescription runs out. This risk is heightened among the disabled, who are often under greater mobility and financial restrictions than the general population. These factors, combined with the fact that Opioid addiction is by far the most likely form of addiction to end in overdose and death, make disability and addiction to Opioids a growing cause for concern.
Or, Social Security could determine you’re disabled because of irreversible liver damage caused by chronic alcohol or drug abuse. In either case, Social Security’s medical consultant will try to determine if your drinking or drug dependence makes your disability worse. The ADA considers as a disability any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits major life activities, or a history of such an impairment. Congress signaled that the definition should be interpreted broadly and the protections extended widely, legal scholars say. Under that framework, people in recovery from opioid and other substance use disorders have disabilities and can’t be discriminated against.
- In 2018, for example, Volvo had to pay $70,000 to resolve a suit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after it allegedly refused to hire someone for being on Suboxone.
- If you win your claim for disability but the SSA believes you’re still struggling with substance abuse, the agency might require that you have a representative payee.
- While the agency no longer awards benefits solely on the basis of drug addiction, you might still qualify for disability benefits if you have separate impairments that prevent you from working—even if the impairment was caused by substance abuse.
- This paradigm explains not only opioid abuse maintenance but also that of psychostimulants (some of which are used in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]), alcohol, nicotine, and the anesthetic hallucinogens ketamine and phencyclidine.
Forcing people off the medications can sometimes lead to people returning to illicit drug use. These cases also highlight the discrepancy that exists between what’s considered standard-of-care treatment for opioid addiction and the perceptions of those therapies. The department reached a settlement with Charlwell House, under which the facility had to adopt a non-discrimination policy and provide ADA training. It has since reached agreements with about eight other skilled nursing facility organizations. In many cases, people who receive treatment can return to normal function. In instances where abstinence won’t reverse their disability, they will receive financial support.
All those shortcomings mean that those with IDD don’t live as long as other people. Nurses aren’t well equipped to care for their complex needs and often start talking only to family members, which the patients are quick to notice. The vast majority of scientists who study addiction agree that addiction is a disease of the brain. However, there is less of a consensus in regard to whether addiction qualifies as a disability.
Getting Benefits With Conditions: The Representative Payee
Previous discussions of addiction have often focused on the question of whether addiction is a disease. This discussion distinguishes that question – the disease question – from the question of whether addiction is a disability. I argue that, however one answers the disease question, and indeed on almost any credible account of addiction, addiction is a disability. I then consider the implications of this view, or why it matters that addiction is a disability. The disease model of addiction has led many to see addiction as primarily a medical problem, and to make medical treatment of the addicted person the first priority in addressing addiction.
Is Addiction a Disability or Just Unacceptable Behavior?
Under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), alcohol addiction is considered a disability whether the addiction is current or not. Before you can worry about things like getting a new job or getting your life back on track, you have to get sober by seeking treatment for your addiction. You may even be entitled to benefits that can make your life easier as you work on your recovery.
Find Support for Addiction and Recovery Today
Here’s more on applying for disability when you’re addicted to or dependent on drugs or alcohol, including how the SSA evaluates substance abuse and what you need to show to win your claim. The ADA is a federal law that gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities in many
areas of life. The opioid crisis poses an extraordinary challenge to communities throughout our country. The Department of Justice (the Department) has responded with a comprehensive approach prioritizing prevention, enforcement, and treatment. This guidance document provides information about how the ADA can protect individuals with OUD from discrimination—an important part of combating the opioid epidemic across American communities. While this document focuses on individuals with OUD, the legal principles discussed also apply to individuals with other types of substance use disorders.
A doctor’s office has a blanket policy of denying care to patients receiving treatment for
OUD. The office would violate the ADA if it excludes individuals based on their OUD. In some cases, correctional facilities have argued they are compliant with the ADA because they offer inmates the third opioid addiction medication, naltrexone (also known as Vivitrol), which is not an opioid. But the Justice Department has asserted that institutions have the obligation to provide all three treatments, and that the decision of which treatment to use should be up to patients and their doctors, not jails or judges. Mental disorders may also cause discomfort or anxiety when interacting with others.
More Brain Circuits and Neurotransmitters Are Involved
The potential employer violated the ADA when he refused to hire Marianna because of her recovery status. But the disease model is more than the bare claim that addiction is a disease. It is also a systematic view of addiction on which addiction is in the first place a medical problem, and the addicted person is in the first place a patient. This model has been responsible for major advances in the way that society treats addicted people. But this perspective is also limited, and it is time for us to move beyond it.
The facility’s exclusion of patients based on their OUD would violate the ADA. Typically, yes, unless the individual guide to living with an alcoholic is currently engaged in illegal drug use. Mental and emotional disorders can be particularly difficult to diagnose.
A person with a history of these impairments or those currently dealing with one may also be considered disabled under the ADA. This broad definition can encompass various conditions, from chronic physical illnesses to mental health disorders. Drug addiction isn’t considered a disabling impairment on its own anymore. Since 2017, when the agency removed its Blue Book listing for substance addiction disorders, if you file an application («claim») for SSDI or SSI disability benefits and the only reason you can’t work is due to substance abuse, Social Security will deny your claim.
And in April, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division released guidance outlining how the ADA applies to substance use disorders, aiming to explain to people with addiction histories that they have rights they might not be aware of. Chronic pain plays a significant role in addiction among people with disabilities. It accounts for 17% to 38% of the relationship between disability and various forms of licenses and regulations for sober living homes substance use. Yes, he is a person with a disability (addiction to alcohol), but it is complicated. The employer does not have to withdraw the written warning nor grant an accommodation that supports Michael’s drinking, like allowing him to arrive late in the morning. The employer can require an employee with addiction to alcohol to meet the same standards of performance and behavior as other employees.
A person who has a legally prescribed medication to treat their substance use disorder (such as Suboxone, Methadone, or Vivitrol etc.), and is no longer engaging in the illegal use of drugs is a person with a disability and is protected by the ADA. Twenty-seven percent of the U.S. population lives with a disability, and nearly half of those say they are in bad health. Those with disabilities alcoholism and mental health face a greater incidence of physical and mental ailments, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, addiction, and mental illness, as well as increased rates of morbidity and mortality. They struggle to access high-quality medical care and suffer from stigma, biases, and ableism. People with disabilities are also subject to social disadvantage and marginalization.
Once addiction is viewed as a disability (whether or not it is also a disease), different concerns are foregrounded. The problem of addiction resides not only in the addicted person, but also in the social environment in which the addicted person finds herself. The fundamental ethical question about addiction is not how addicted persons can be treated or otherwise changed, but how a just society can make reasonable accommodations for addicted persons. Yes, the recovery home discriminated against Sofia under the ADA because she wasn’t allowed to take her medication while participating in the treatment program.
