Ethics...would you steal to save a life?

Hi Guys and Dolls,

Here is a question that came up in my Ethics class. It stirred up a lot of controversy. Mind you this class is geared to criminal justice. I had to share it with everyone.

A man's wife is diagnosed with a illness that requires her to have a medication in order for her to survive. Without this medicine she will die.

The problem is the medication cost $4,000. The husband only has $2000. There is only one druggist who sells this medication and he is charging three times the amount it should be. He will not take payments on the balance nor lower his price.

Would you steal the medication?

If it was for a stranger....would you steal the medication?

If it was for your pet.......would you steal the medication?

Lips

Yes, I would steal, but I would need to be willing to go to jail.  It still is a crime.

For a stranger.  No.
Dog....as much as I love mine!  No.

Lips....are you describing what life will be like under Obama's medical reform?

Political Scrooge.......................

ROFLMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I was taken a sip of my drink and it about came through my nose i laughed so hard when i read your last line!!!

That was a great come back.........by far the funniest line from you to date!!

Thanks for the laugh

Lips

I would steal it for a stranger, absolutely, if it saved their life!  More medication can be manufactured!  Someone's life is more important than any money or material thing! 

I wouldn't do it for a pet, though.  I'm sorry if that offends anyone...

Ok, i guess this is where i am really out numbered. There is 15 students total in this class.

I am the ONLY one who said i would do it for my dog. Not one person said they would.

Lips

The question becomes for those of you who'd steal it:  Would you be willing to go to prison from 1 to 5 years for it?

The answer is simple........without a shadow of a doubt...without even flinching.......


YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How could i not save the life of someone who i know would die for me.

Okay then (the ethical retort here!)  why don't you go steal some meds?  I mean there are lots and lots of people who need life saving meds who cannot afford them.  You could save a life this week.  Why not go stealing?

Doc,

I would not steal for a stranger. If i stole for strangers.......then my life would be mass destruction trying to save the world. That just is not realistic

But i would for anyone i loved.....anyone. I would take a bullet for the people i love. Stealing meds would be a small price to pay to save their life.

Lips

I would steal it for my dog.

There is no question.

My animals are just as important to me as any human life.

                                                     PMM

Thanks....I always enjoy an ethical debate!

short answer for me...YES, I would!!!

I even skip a meal, if I have to, to feed my animals. I have 2 dogs, 3 cats and 2 fish (all inherited from my kids). My dogs are my best friends. I even have a seagull that stops by on  regular occasions. Saving a life is more important to me than any man made rule out there. If I would have to do time because of it, so it be. I'm the only one responsible for my action when the judgment time comes. Cruelty to any life for our own best interest is wrong in my book....just my opinion!

Do you think life would be worst? or better?

As a Canadian, I love the fact that I don't have to worry about medical or treatment costs. I can get injured, picked up by an ambulance and brought to emergency..have a doctor stitch me up and leave. All I had to do..show them my government issued health card - simple and worry-free.


and to answer the question:

someone i love - yes definitely i would do anything
a stranger - a stranger is only a stranger until we meet and once i meet that person and depending on the circumstances - there is a possibility that I would
              - but if it's like someone tv celeb, i may know of the person but not
                personally - probably not

pets - i have no pets.

Lips, Even if you had someone to take care of the dog he/she will miss you terribly and when your needed most. Best to find any other way first. If I would steal I'd have to make sure I get away with it, otherwise the whole thing is pointless. For a stranger I would have to close my eyes or suggest whatever I could for them. There's too many strangers that need help.

For me this is not the question of ethics, for me this is the matter of common sense. Theres a lot of injustice in this world, thers so many ppl that are less fortunate than us.  We live in a society that inflicts the norms, and we live by these norms. But following them dont necessarily mean doing the right thing.

Sometimes you have to break the rules in order to do the right thing. Would I steal for a stranger, I probably wouldn't... would I help the stranger, yes I would ...

Would I steal for my family and friends , in a heart beat....for a dog, well that's family too...

Let me take this to another level.  For those who would steal to get meds to save a loved one:  Are you fine with someone in that situation stealing from you?  In other words, if you come home today and discover a medicine needy family has broken into your house and stolen items/ money, etc. you feel that would be okay?

I had med's stolen from me not items.I had a spinacord stimulator put in twice this year and take many med's, oxycodone is just one.Well I had just gotten my scripts filled and my oxy's, i get 240 tablets a month.That same day, I had many visitors, alot of college kids, and a girlfriend of 8 years, along with her 2 year old son.Well, the college kids hung around, doing what they do, listen to their music, had a couple of beers etc. and well, this girlfriend went in my bathroom (where I kept my med's) and decided to give her son a shower, he had gotten "dirty" from playing outside playing with my 8 month old lab, I thought how odd? Like why not just take a washcloth etc., but anyways? Later I went to go pee, and yes the door was closed, she walked in on me and began talking with the door wide open!The look on my face "are you *$*%^ kidding me?" she actually walked away, leaving the door opened!I about almost died,couldn't believe what had just happened!Well, finally all left and it was time to take my med's, guess what? My oxycodone was more then 1/2 gone!Now I had just goten it filled that day (240) and i had about 90 in there.I couldn't believe it,how could someone take my med's knowing the pain I am in?AWFUL feeling.I know who took them and it wasn' the college kids either. I didn't take her phone calls for the longest time, she actually called 15 times one day and left many messages, she acted very nervouse and she knew I knew.She still plays dumb with me, but I know.I now hide my med's, how pathetic.I won't call her out on it, just to be lied too?How's that?

Well, I'd ptobably consider the illegal act...I'd probably beg though and make it as public as possible.

Stranger? No.

Dog? No. My older sister paid out $1,400 for hip surgery for her dog, I didn't say anything as I knew she loved her, but I'd have had the final shot given as I'd not be able to afford it.

In our lives we face many challenges, to say "Well, I will steal to keep the one I love alive" is a tough question with an equally tough choice.

I'd prefer to exhaust all avenues before I'd steal though.

To qualify my earlier statement -

I would certainly not go knocking door to door asking if there is anyone there who is dying and needing me to go steal medication for them.

Like Genenco, If I was a person's last hope, then I would go public and say this person is dying and without the medication they will not make it,etc.  If worse came to worse I would steal it.  At least I'd like to think I would ...

Doc,

I think that's an excellent question. For me at least, of course i would be upset if someone broke in my house and stole from me. But, if i found out the reason behind that.......i have to admit it would break my heart and i KNOW i would not press charges.

I am by nature very open minded and a deep thinker. There is many things that have been done to me that were not exactly honorable. I think the key is to peel the layers and try to understand just why that person did or said what they just said.

Maybe that is wrong........and maybe i have forgiven a lot in my life where many may not have. I think the key is to understand what the motive was behind it.

Lips

I do enjoy a good debate, especially one involving ethics.  I walk a fine line on the question/scenario as you put it before us as I am surrounded by law enforcement personnel in my family (brother is a State Trooper, daughter & son-in-law are both Deputies and husband is retired Deputy).  In addition, there is a list of moral standards by which I try to base my life and morals on (The Ten Commandments) and "Thou shall not steal" is #8 on that list.

I suppose I would do my absolute best to exhaust ALL other resources, including public pleas on local news stations & the community in a plea for help.  I would sell off anything of value I owned in order to lawfully obtain the medication for my loved one but I speak honestly in that I would not do that for a stranger, nor would I steal to save the life of a stranger.  I would also have to be willing to accept the consequences of my actions if I were to steal and be prepared to go to jail (where my daughter says that arrested family members will always have "the best cell").  Hard question to answer on a "what if" because we all handle things differently when put before a desperate situation.  As much as I LOOOOOVE my dogs....and horse....and parrots...and cows....I would not steal medication to save their lives.  I provide for their needs often before my own, but couldn't....wouldn't break the law.