In her article, Should Hospitals Be Punished for Post-Surgical Patients’ Opioid Addiction, Martha Bebinger discusses a phenomenon that has recently become quite an issue in the medical world. Patients who are prescribed post-surgical drugs that are meant to help with pain and other symptoms have begun to become addicted to these medications. This poses an issue for hospitals since they are the ones prescribing these medications. According to the article, hospitals generally do not give their patients information on how to ease off of the drugs once they are no longer needed. Also, because it is so difficult to determine the amount of pain that a patient is truly in, it is difficult to decide how much medication to prescribe patients. The reporter's purpose is to gather information on the topic and come to a viable solution for the issue. She does this through the collection of one patient's testimony, the expertise of several doctors who are well informed on the topic, and by exploring the real issues behind these addictions.
Bebinger presents the case of 68 year old Katie Herzog, who became addicted to Dilaudid after her back surgery. The author is unemotional and does not necessarily show any signs of vested interest in the topic. She has chosen to word her title in the form of a question instead of a statement, which might suggest her own opinion (ex: ‘Hospitals should be held accountable for post-surgical patients’ opioid addictions’). Her word choice allows the readers to come to their own conclusions about the topic. Bebinger also chose to speak to a patient who faced opioid addiction (who is more likely to be in support of hospitals being held accountable or punished) instead of a hospital official of member of the hospital board (who is might be less likely to be in favor of hospital punishment). These choices made by the author support the idea that she is not blatantly biased, however the things that she chooses to focus on in her writing do suggest some bias. The author makes appeals to all three of the rhetoric devices in order to make a her argument thorough, believable, and strong. She appeals to both pathos and ethos through the Ms. Herzog's story. Readers immediately sympathize with this woman who simply followed the directions of her doctor and unfortunately acquired an addiction. Also, by having the word of someone who has actually experienced addiction to hospital-prescribed opiods and post-addiction withdrawal symptoms, Bebinger is able to be viewed as a credible source. Another reason that Bebinger appears to be a reputable and trustworthy source is a professional healthcare reporter and that this article is associated with Kaiser Health News. The author appeals to logos through the use of several studies as evidence for both her claims and those of Katie Herzog and does this in order to further make herself credible and to offer fact and research to support the interviewee's story.
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Michayla Cherichelis a North Cobb Warrior with interests in politics, political science, and journalism. Archives
February 2018
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