Recovering physicians beating the odds

Long-term treatment, such as that offered at a University of Florida center, is the best medicine for doctors with addictions.

By Damon Adams, amednews staff. Dec. 24/31, 2001.

A new study offers hope to physicians trying to beat drug and alcohol addictions.

The University of Florida study of doctors in recovery programs found that long-term treatment and monitoring programs gave physicians a good chance of being employed and staying drug-free after five years.

The findings showed that 22 of 24 Florida doctors who began treatment in 1995 were successfully rehabilitated.

"The five-year recovery rate among physicians is remarkable, with more than nine out of 10 drug-free and returned to work," said Mark Gold, MD, study lead author and chief of addiction medicine for the Psychiatry Dept. at UF College of Medicine, Gainesville.

Doctors abuse alcohol and drugs at about the same rate as the general population, physicians say. About 10% to 15% of doctors get addicted to alcohol while 4% to 6% become hooked on drugs, said Martin Doot, MD, president of the Federation of State Physician Health Programs and head of Illinois' physician health program.

Most states have programs to help doctors deal with their addictions. Such programs were established by medical societies or state medical boards.

Doctors typically must undergo detoxification, counseling and treatment and submit to random drug tests, according to addiction experts. If practitioners fail to comply, their license could be suspended or revoked.

Physicians may become addicted because of stress over their practice, and they have easy access to drugs, addiction experts said.

In the UF study, Dr. Gold and his colleagues reviewed data gathered by Florida's Physicians Recovery Network. They looked at files on 24 doctors -- 23 men and one woman, ages 30 to 63, from 10 medical subspecialties -- who started addiction treatment in a variety of programs in 1995. Nearly 40% had a history of intravenous drug abuse.

Recovery was documented by psychiatrist and physician evaluations, counselor reports, returns to employment and random urine tests conducted at least weekly.

High success rate

The study, presented at the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in November, said physician recovery "far exceeds" rates reported for other patient groups. After five years, 92% of the doctors were drug-free and had returned to work.

"The prognosis is much better in this type of program," said Raymond Pomm, MD, a study co-author and medical director of Florida's Physicians Recovery Network. "Eighty percent of our folks never relapse."

Dr. Pomm said confidential assistance and structured monitoring programs are crucial to help doctors beat addiction. "If you are a physician who has a patient with this problem, what you would want is the same kind of compassionate care, confidential manner and excellent outcome," he said.

Ken Thompson, MD, medical director of the Florida Recovery Center, a UF treatment program, said doctors should seek help for their addiction, not fight on their own. He should know: He struggled for years with an addiction to drugs after being treated with a narcotic for a kidney stone as a medical student.

"It was love at first taste," Dr. Thompson said. "The first job I had I was stealing drugs from the little pharmacy we had."

For 10 years as a physician, Dr. Thompson wrote bad prescriptions to feed his habit. He took leftover pain medication when ill relatives died. The addiction hurt his family, and he lost his home. Finally, at the urging of a doctor, he sought treatment, and was helped through Florida's Physicians Recovery Network.

"I have not used a drink or a drug since Feb. 22, 1987," said Dr. Thompson, who now works with addicts through the Florida Recovery Center.

Dr. Thompson said addicted doctors need to know that there is always hope to beating addiction. "It wasn't until I went into treatment that I realized there was a way out," he said.