AHS Views

A surgeon in Charleston, West Virginia, surrendered his license and agreed to go to rehab, according to a recent news article. With four malpractice suits behind him – he won the first and settled the other three – the Board of Medicine finally launched an investigation that resulted in discussions with the doc, and he’s now going to drug rehab.

Although details are slim, it appears this doc’s problem is a lot more than drug abuse. The Board decided he could not practice medicine or perform surgery due to “abuse of drugs, unprofessional conduct, failure to maintain records, prescribing drugs other than in good faith and failure to practice acceptably.”

It’s clear that he’s not just taking drugs, he’s dealing them. That’s a whole different story.

Selling drugs doesn’t go hand in hand with taking them. Sometimes addicts get into desperate situations and start dealing to support their own habits. I’m not condoning that, but at least it’s something you can understand.
 
But what’s in it for this doc? He’s writing bogus prescriptions. Unless he’s getting paid for it – substantially – and needs that money to support his habit, I don’t see any justification for simply letting him off with rehab.

Yes, he should get his drug problem handled. But what about the others who may be addicted to or abusing drugs because of his prescriptions? Who’s going to get them through a drug rehab program?