mortiz095

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly Volume 23 Number 33 August 29, 2011 ASAM admits error in omitting NIAAA in definition publicity In announcing its new broader definition of addiction to include non-substance addictions such as sex and gambling (see ADAW, August 22), the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) made an almost fatal error. It treated alcohol like an afterthought and pointedly omitted any mention of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) while suggesting — incorrectly, as it turns out — that the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) was involved in crafting the definition, ADAW has learned. ASAM past president Michael Miller, M.D., told ADAW last week that nobody from NIDA was involved officially in the process leading to release of the definition. “The press release did not state things in a clear manner and clearly led people to believe that we had some kind of formal connection with NIDA,” Miller said. It strains belief for some l...

I think I'm ready to again take up my lance and tilt at the windmill of changing the paradigm of treatment in this country (if not everywhere!) I haven't been posting mostly because I've been overwhelmed with the realities of trying to earn a living seeing patients in a heavily managed care environment. I've learned a lot, some of it quite painfully. I think in the long run it will serve me, and hopefully others, well, because this is a harsh, difficult and treacherous environment. I understand much better why physicians avoid particularly challenging patients, and why they are so conservative in their approach. Everyone is overwhelmed. There are so many patients we really don't have any treatment for or even understand what is wrong with them. It feels like we are putting Band-Aids on gaping infected wounds and sending people out the door. Many are simply left to cope on their own. All of this has been exacerbated by the Great Recession, which is wreaking havoc on ...