Addiction Does Not Spare Medical Professionals
Addiction does not spare medical professionals when it claims its victims. Firstly, medical professionals are human, subject to the same stresses and anxieties as anyone else. Secondly, addictive substances are right at hand, and since they know how the prescribing system works, they also know how to circumvent it—up to a point. Until they are caught, anyway.
One Florida researcher noted that doctors and nurses are about as likely to abuse substances as any other person – the number is estimated at 10% to 14%. But they are more likely to abuse prescription drugs than others—an understandable phenomenon. Another study found that a disproportionately high number of anesthesiologists and emergency room physicians struggle with addiction.
Cases Highlighting this Problem
In 2014, this problem came to the forefront of the news media when an anesthesiology trainee at the University of Michigan hospital overdosed on fentanyl – he lived. Just a few hours earlier, a nurse at the same hospital overdosed on fentanyl and Versed but did not survive. As these events have surfaced, hospitals have had to implement stronger security measures for their addictive drugs. Which of course adds complexity, cost and delay for everyone along the line.
Of course, patients can suffer right along with the medical professionals. Some pros have lifted pills from their patients’ supplies and others have emptied pre-filled syringes of painkillers and refilled them with water. Medical staff not involved in the theft may disbelieve these patients when they complain that their medication did nothing for their pain so these patients may simply have to suffer until the next dose is due.
While most prosecution by the Drug Enforcement Administration focuses on illegal prescribing of addictive substances to patients, they also prosecute doctors who divert medications to supply their own addictions. Both of these situations are covered in an document published by the DEA.
Addiction Programs for Professionals
Now, there are rehabilitation and post-rehab monitoring programs especially for medical professionals so they can work their way back to trust and licensing again.
Doctors of all types are concerned about privacy as they recover their sobriety. Narconon Ojai is perfectly set up for the individual who has earned the right to personalized care and comfort after many years of service to others. From its exquisite lodgings to its grand vistas of mountains and sea, Narconon Ojai is designed to bring professionals of all types through the repair and rehabilitation they need.
Contact Narconon Ojai today for a confidential consultation about recovery for a professional you care about.
