Discrimination against People on Methadone Treatment “We are not socialising, we are methadonising” This is 2007 and Bulgaria is now part of the Europe, according to the accession treaty effective as of January 2007. However, regardless of all EU guidance and recommendations on the prevention of discrimination, and despite the new rules and regulations and the specifically established bodies, discrimination is still here, and unchallenged. It is also all over the place with regard to people on methadone treatment. These are people that have in one way or another succumbed to drug addiction but found in themselves the will and strength to overcome their illness. They have given up all opiates and have turned their backs to the past. They are unwilling to remember that time, and feel weak and helpless when somehow reminded of their lives on the edge. These people are now energetic, stable, and hungry for life. They have found a way out, and that way out is methadone. This is, however, a treatment only available in limited numbers. For the rest the state has yet to provide a solution. And the few chosen ones given the opportunity to come clean face another problem, namely - discrimination! They are being discriminated against in terms of health condition. Society rejects them and drives them into becoming outsiders. No hand is ever outstretched once it is known they were once drug addicts. It is as clear as daylight that they are being isolated and stigmatised by the surrounding community. Healthy people will not communicate with them, will not work in the same place, and don’t want to hear about them. Rejected by society, counting on their ounce of courage to carry on with the methadone treatment, they now start their life in fear, a fear which casts a shadow over their difficult enough life already. They are fearful of someone finding out about their treatment and their past, as this would cost them everything they have managed to build. The stories these people told me were so dark and heavy with suffering and grief that I had to wonder whether Bulgarian society has actually grown enough for this honour Europe has bestowed on us. They shared how there will always be a illwisher keen to uncover their secret which inevitably results in dismissal from their job or remarks by the employer or colleagues, loss of friends, discrimination and spiteful ridicule on the part of the “healthy” ones. This is what their past costs them, even if it is already behind them. Our society, however, cannot accept that. So this begs the question: who is stronger and who has managed to overcome prejudice ...healthy society or people undergoing methadone treatment? The moment when these people will grow up and become prospective mums and dads is imminent. As it is only women who give birth, men on methadone treatment at least do not have to face yet another absurd problem, namely the refusal of gynaecological services for having the baby. I was shocked to find out that these babies are seriously labelled “methadone babies”. That’s because since the mother was an addict, the addiction will automatically transfer to the baby. In order for this innocent creature to avoid such a fate, he or she will need the special care of trained medical staff who will detoxicate the blood during the very first week. Of course, this sort of specialised staff is rare and often the lack of knowledge or sometimes negligence of maternity ward staff makes it impossible to rescue the baby from the addiction it was born with. This is how methadone mothers are rewarded for being
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honest about their treatment. Even if they hide the truth from the outside world, they always share it with medical staff who are supposed to look after their health. Unfortunately, here too there is no understanding but quite the opposite - a projection of the attitude of the world outside. For instance, it is well known that drug addiction is very often accompanied by contraction of type C hepatitis. Even if treated for the dependency, the hepatitis is left unchecked. In cases like these, no matter how urgent, medical interventions are being refused. One pregnant woman whose baby was arriving in a frank breech required a c-section in order for the baby to be born safely. Contrary to his Hippocratic Oath, the doctor refused to perform the surgery on the labouring mother because she had type C hepatitis. Writhing with pain, the mother gave birth without the c-section. The breech baby was eventually born, only with dislocated shoulders and other defects. According to Art.141 of the Bulgarian Penal Code, if a person exercising a medical occupation fails to provide assistance at a birth or to a sick person after being asked to do so and with no valid reason, they will be put on probation or fined between 100 and 300 leva. Paragraph 2 of the same Article says that in cases where the offender was aware that the sick person or the woman giving birth was in danger, the penalty will be up to 1 year of imprisonment or probation. Of course, although a crime was committed against her and her baby, this woman is not going to go for penal or civil proceedings against this doctor under the Protection against Discrimination Act, as it would mean standing up in front of society and stating that she was an addict, that she is currently undergoing methadone treatment, and that she has type C hepatitis. Not only she will not do it but others will not dare either, as they have suffered enough from having their secret revealed. That is why it is easier for them to hide, forced to come up with various imaginary stories to answer the suspicions of employers, relatives, children, that is people they interact with daily. They cannot afford the truth, as that would mean losing everything - their job, their social surroundings, their contacts. But most of all they are terrified that this hostility toward them will transfer to their most beloved ones - their children. They fear that their children, too, will be denied medical care, that they will be thrown out of nursery or other school, that they will be branded for life just like their parents. Medical care is being refused to anyone with type C hepatitis who has been addicted to drugs. However, if they are smart enough to make up a convincing story of how the hepatitis actually appeared because of a tattoo or a piercing, they no longer face refusal of medical treatment and care. Then dentists treat their teeth, doctors offer good service, and there is no discrimination. Logically, one would ask why? Few people actually realise that the same attitude and hostility apply to HIV-positive and mentally challenged patients. They are being overlooked, too. So how much longer is Bulgarian society going to avoid responsibility? How much longer are we going to let our discriminating behaviour get the better of us? When will we stop eliminating and tramping on those who are weaker? How long will it take for Bulgarian society to evolve to really become part of Europe and the civilised world? And when is the state going to step in? When are institutions actually going to do their job? By Yordanka BEKIRSKA