The following is a purely hypothetical scenario. I don't want to hear any "it depends" or "this wouldn't happen in real life." That defeats the purpose of a hypothetical.
Let's say that there are two parents and a child [u]in his/her teens.[/u]One of the parents has a prescription medication. They keep it in their medicine cabinet. One day, the kid opens the medicine cabinet and takes the medication. This causes health problems for the child and generally messes them up. Who is tho blame for the child's problems in this scenario?
Edit:
Assume that before the incident, the child is perfectly healthy, both physically and mentally. The parents have told the child not to take the medication, and the child understood. The child knew what the medication was prior to taking it. The medication is not necessary to the survival of the parent taking it, but it eases the symptoms of his/her condition.
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It's still the parents' fault. The child is still their own responsibility. The part of your brain that rationalizes risky, dangerous behavior isn't fully developed until you're 25. Not to say that the kid isn't stupid for doing it, but the parents should have kept their medicine locked up. Unless of course, the teen is independent/emancipated, then it's %100 their own fault. That's my legal/logical argument. On a more subjective note, the teen is more than old enough to know that taking medicine not prescribed to him/her is dangerous. They deserve what ever condition they're left in after taking it.