Addicted Healers

5 Key Signs Your Healthcare Professional
May Be Drug Impaired

RELEASING SEPTEMBER 2012

by Ethan O. Bryson, MD

Prescription drug abuse represents a serious and growing public health problem in the medical profession. Often, popular television dramas like “Nurse Jackie” or “House” present a glamorized side of a silent and growing health care epidemic that most people don’t believe is real. We the public have a right to know what we are getting into when we walk through the doors of a hospital or doctor’s office.

One to two percent of all healthcare professionals will become addicted each year. This figure is rough, since not every addicted healthcare professional overdoses, gets caught or ends up in a treatment program or before the state medical or nursing board for disciplinary action. If they do enter treatment they may do so anonymously or not through a referral from a state agency. Because of these issues, the prevalence of addiction in the population of healthcare professionals remains unknown.

“Addiction is a disease of isolation," states Bryson. It is rare that the addicted healthcare professional has the luxury of a confidant. If they are discovered, they fear they will lose their jobs, their licenses and the ability to find another job, as well as the respect of former colleagues, family and friends. They need to understand that their behavior, which encourages isolation, can increase the risk for relapse and ultimately decrease patient safety.

In Addicted Healers, Ethan O. Bryson breaks the code of silence by exposing what types of prescription drugs healthcare professionals are abusing and why they become addicted. It highlights the signs and symptoms of doctors' and nurses' drug-seeking behavior and intervention, why you need to be proactive and get involved. Additionaly, it details the best treatments and reports options for impaired healthcare professionals. Now Bryson reveals how the healthcare industry and consumers can stop this growing silent epidemic. The life you save may very well be your own.

Ethan O. Bryson, MD, is an award-winning associate professor in the departments of anesthesia and psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, NY. He received his MD from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Bryson has published extensively on the utilization of stimulation in medical education and the care and treatment of the addicted patient. He is considered an expert in the field of the potential for addiction among anesthesiologists and the addictive nature of anesthetic agents and is often called upon by the media. He is a frequent lecturer and recently was interviewed by Newsweek, The New Republic, New York Magazine and MD Magazine. He and his family reside in Bridgewater, New Jersey.

Nonfiction, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, 240 pages
Self-help/Substance Abuse & Addictions/Alcoholism
LC #??, world rights
ISBN-13: 978-0-88282-392-8, (pb), $14.95