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Clinical and ethical issues concerning residence permits for medical reasons: should medical reports be done? Volume 91, issue 2, Février 2015

Authors
1 Psychiatre, directrice de l’Orspere-Samdarra, Centre hospitalier Le Vinatier, 95 Boulevard Pinel, 69677 Bron, France
2 Sociologue, responsable de la recherche, Orspere-Samdarra, Centre hospitalier Le Vinatier, Centre Max-Weber, Bron, France
3 Psychologue, coordinateur de projet, Orspere-Samdarra, Centre hospitalier Le Vinatier, Bron, France

The procedure to obtain the title of medical stay includes the writing of a medical report by a registered medical practitioner or a hospital doctor. The writing of this document launches the caregiver on to both the social stage and legislative stage which is apart from the habitual scope of activities. It therefore seems necessary to ask the question: “Should the medical reports be written?”. In an attempt to extract intuitive logic, we propose in this article to describe the different ethical and clinical issues that accompany the procedure. We will first deal with the different legal and clinical aspects and the procedures one may encounter in migrant patients seeking papers. It is therefore important to understand the context of migration and residence in order to understand the effects it has on the course of foreign patients. We will then present what this report involves, the information it should contain, and we will explore the possibilities of the response available to the psychiatrist. Then we will offer a line of thought in order to put the medical report into a therapeutic context which is the sole encounter between doctor and patient. This will not only focus on the legal consequences of the act, but also its clinical effects for the patient.