Implication of Executive Order 16-09

This study analyses the legal or ethical implication and policy implication of Executive Order 16-09 addressing the Opioid Use Public Health Crisis. It discusses the legal, ethical and policy implication of this policy. The policy maker is Jay Inslee.

Running head: IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09
Implication of Executive Order 16-09
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09
Part 1
Implication of Executive Order 16-09
Washington is currently facing the opioid overdose and abuse issue which involves
prescribed opioids and heroin. The death rates resulting from opioid overdose has
significantly increased in the past years. As much as 700 deaths were reported in the year
2015 for overdose. Also, it has been observed from a survey that 57% of those syringe
exchange clients who inject heroin claimed that they were subjected to prescription opiates
before they started using heroin. The purpose of this study is to understand the legal, ethical
and policy implication of the Executive Order 16-09 addressing the Opioid Use Public Health
Crisis,which was developed to combat the issue of overdose of inappropriate opioid
prescribing and its abuse. This study analyses the legal, ethical and policy implication of this
policy. The policy maker is Jay Inslee (Doh.wa.gov 2018)
Legal Implications
The doctors will be facing more challenges before prescribing opioid and heroin as a
result of Executive Order 16-09. As opioid and heroinare used to treat chronic pain, the
resources of the medical treatment for the health care agencies will be limited to treat the
issue. If the supply of opioid is restricted and reduced, the general people, as a result of this
issue, will be exposed to the difficulties of treating the chronic pain issues. The reduction in
the availability of opioids will not ensure its misuse or abuse. The policy lacks the measure to
restrict the chances of overdose of such drugs, rather it discusses the measures to recover
from such overdose. The health care agencies may also face the chilling effect of the policy
and might refrain from prescribing opioid as a measure to treat chronic pain. It directly makes
the health care organisations responsible for any prescription drug overdose. In addition to
this, to decide when to use and when not to use opioid may become an ethical dilemma for

2IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09
the doctors. This is because certain situations may make it mandatory for the doctors to use
opioid. The policy may hinder them from effectively carrying out their duties.
Policy Implications
However, the effort to reduce opioid and heroin abuse are well intended in the policy
as it may help in preventing the overdose death and associated risks. The objectives of this
policy also complies with the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 as well as
the Healthcare Quality Improvement Act of 1986. The policy has also helped in spreading
awareness of the best practices of opioid prescribing. The consequences of opioid overdose
has been promoted through the policy. The illegal practices of drug supply will be regulated
with the help of the proposed strategies. The strategies of Executive Order 16-09significantly
makes available the medication for the opioid abused(Stopoverdose.org. 2018). The policy
provides an access to utilize the opioid use disorder medication in criminal justice system.
Pregnant women are made aware of the opioid misuse and the processes to recognise a victim
of opioid overdose are also spread through this policy.
Conclusion
Hence, apart from the ethical, legal issues of implementing restriction on opioid use,
Executive Order16-09 is an effective way to reduce illegal dealing of opioid and heroin
overdose. An actual implementation of this policy will help in reducing the emerging concern
of issue resulting from heroin and opioid overdose will be addressed.

3IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09
References
Healthcare Quality Improvement Act of 1986.
Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005
Stopoverdose.org. (2018). Retrieved from
https://stopoverdose.org/docs/StateODResponsePlan2017.pdf
Doh.wa.gov. (2018). Opioid Misuse and Overdose Prevention :: Washington State
Department of Health. [online] Available at:
https://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/PoisoningandDrugOverdo
se/OpioidMisuseandOverdosePrevention [Accessed 5 Dec. 2018].

4IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09
Part 2:
Ethical Issues in Public Policy
There has been innumerable controversies that have evolved centring the
Executive Order 16-09. A considerable amount of questions have arisen regarding the ethical
validity of this order. A thorough discussion of this order under the light of different ethical
theories is a need for examining the ethical validity of this order. Ethics implies the moral
ethnicity of a person, inflicted on his conduct. The ethical theories under which this executive
order needs to be discussed are, namely Deontology or Utilitarianism. This paper discusses
the ethical issues with respect to the policy along with advantages and disadvantages of
ethical approaches.
The Ethical Theories
One of the theories of ethics that has surfaced in this discussion is Deontology.
Deontology implies the correctness of an action. It emphasises on the cause rather than on the
consequences (Paquette, Sommerfeldt & Kent, 2015). Under the principles of Deontology, an
action must define the morality and not the result. On the other hand, the theory of
Utilitarianism focuses more on the consequences than on the action (Mill, 2016). Under
Utilitarianism, the actions are regarded as right as long as it yields right results. Hence, it can
be stated that Utilitarianism deals with the rightness or wrongness of the consequences while
Deontology is concerned about the rightness of an action.

5IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09
Ethical Issues
The Executive Order 16-09 is concerned about reduction of opioid by stopping
its supply, that would firstly bring an inconvenience for the doctors to treat chronic pain and
secondly it would not ensure a stoppage to its misuse. This order aims at curbing the
excessive use of opioid and heroin by bringing a check in the supply of the same. Opioid and
heroin are also used as a treatment of chronic pain and putting a check in the supply of same
will became a hindrance in the same. The reduced supply in opioid would pose a threat to the
treatment of chronic pain but whether it brings the misuse down would be a questionable
issue. The order focuses more on an action-based method for its implementation (Robinson,
Xu & Plaks, 2017). The order is silent about the results yield strives to yield. The implication
of this order is mostly based on the theory of Deontology. Unlike Utilitarianism, it focuses
more on the actions than what consequences those actions would bring (Mill, 2015). A
reduction in the supply of opioid will, to some extent reduce the use of opioid, but that does
not necessarily imply a reduction of its misuse. Therefore, it can be stated that a control over
the action would not always ensure a control over the results.
Pros-Cons
The Executive Order 16-09 is targeted on the use of the opioid and thus strives
to diminish its misuse and abuse. It applies an action-based technique to curb the supply of
the opioid. This would to some extent reduce the use of opioid, but the question that arises is
would it be really effective for reducing the misuse and overdose or not. The main objective
of the order is to bring down the misuse and abuse of opioid overdose, that is to stop its
negative use. However, the implication of the order emphasises mainly in the control and
reduction in the supply of opioid and heroin.
Opioid and heroin has a positive purpose as a pain relieving medicine in case
of patients with chronic pain issues, but its misuse and overdose lends a negative essence to

6IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09
them. Therefore, the reduction of supply of opioid and heroin would have a two-fold effect.
In a way, it might diminish the misuse and abuse to a certain level, but it will also impact the
use of the same by the doctors for treating the patients with chronic pain. That will raise an
inconvenience in the medical science.
However, it would not be justified to focus on the negative results it will yield.
The order is developed keeping in mind the overuse and misuse of opioid and it adopted an
action–based technique to address it by reducing its supply. Although reducing the supply
would amount to an inconvenience in the medical science but it could not be claimed that it
would not impact the misuse.
Legal Consideration
The Executive Order 16-09 was developed to prohibit the unregulated supply
opioid and heroin with a view to control the misuse and abuse regarding the same. It strives
to check the unauthorised use of opioid and heroin. The order focuses on the prohibition of
the use of opioid and heroin in areas other than the medical science. It puts a restriction on
the supply of opioid and heroin to any unauthorised user. It will render the unauthorised use
of opioid and heroin illegal. The order targets mostly on the supply of opioid rather than on
its misuse and abuse. The order strives to reduce the supply of opioid with a view to reduce
its misuse as a result. The main objective of the order is to bring down the misuse and abuse
of opioid overdose, that is to stop its negative use. The implication of the order emphasises
mainly in the control and reduction in the supply of opioid and heroin. The order is developed
keeping in mind the overuse and misuse of opioid and it adopted an action–based technique
to address it by reducing its supply.

7IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09
Recommendation
It can be concluded from the above discussion that, although the order puts the
medical science in inconvenience but it also resolves the issues it was developed to address.
The authorities should strive to check the actions as well as ensure the desired result. This
could be ensured:
 firstly, by checking the use of opioid and heroine by limiting its supply, and
 secondly, by restricting the use of that limited supply for the purpose of
medical science. The supply of opioid and heroin which is available would be
ensure to have been used only by the presenting a doctor’s prescription.
The authorities should focus on the actions and make sure that the implementation is
bringing the desired results for which the policy was initially developed.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that, it would not be justified to focus on the negative results the
order would yield. The order has been prepared keeping in mind the overuse and misuse of
opioid and it strives to adopt an action–based technique to address the misuse and abuse of
opioid and heroin by reducing its supply. Although reducing the supply would pose an
inconvenience in the medical science but it would not be justified to claim that it would not
impact the misuse. It will also result in the reduction of the misuse to a certain level.

8IMPLICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 16-09
References
Doh.wa.gov. (2018). Opioid Misuse and Overdose Prevention :: Washington State
Department of Health. [online] Available at:
https://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/PoisoningandDrugOverdose/OpioidMisusea
ndOverdosePrevention [Accessed 5 Dec. 2018].
Mill, J. S. (2015). On Liberty, Utilitarianism, and other essays. Oxford University Press,
USA.
Mill, J. S. (2016). Utilitarianism. In Seven Masterpieces of Philosophy (pp. 337-383).
Routledge.
Paquette, M., Sommerfeldt, E. J., & Kent, M. L. (2015). Do the ends justify the means?
Dialogue, development communication, and deontological ethics. Public Relations
Review, 41(1), 30-39.
Robinson, J. S., Xu, X., & Plaks, J. E. (2017). Disgust and Deontology: Trait Sensitivity to
Contamination Promotes a Preference for Order, Hierarchy, and Rule-Based Moral
Judgment. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1948550617732609.