I'm certain that any real judge would have reported Dr. Duclose to the appropriate medical board. His actions in this case were unethical and incompetent, resulting in real harm to Caleb. No psychologist or psychiatrist should ever rely solely on hearsay about a patient. That's in addition to the inappropriate dosage for a child.
About poor people and smoking. I agree it's stupid but quitting is tough. I knew a former heroin addict who said that he quit cold turkey but couldn't quit smoking. When life is nothing but stress it's impossible to let go of the only stress relief you have even if it's killing you.
As I recall, Franco's regime received almost no mention in American news or education. As long as he was staunchly anti-communist everything else was overlooked.