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Doctor turns focus to helping addicts
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Center for Addiction Medicine helping patients hooked on pain medication
By ELLEN ZIEGLER
VIEW STAFF WRITER
There's a disturbing trend in controlled substance abuse. Hydrocodone, which goes by several other names like Vicodin or Lortab, has become one of the easiest drugs to come by and misuse.
Dr. Michael Levy, founder and medical director for the Center for Addiction Medicine, located at 6000 W. Rochelle Ave., Suite 800, treats and detoxifies people addicted to all types of drugs. Recently, he has found about half of his patients are addicted to pain medicine.
"The most frequently abused pain medication is hydrocodone," said Levy. "It is readily available, whether it be through prescription or on the street; some people get it from Mexico. With all due respect to doctors, it is very difficult to determine pain."
Doctors prescribe pain medication to people who say they are in pain, but are unable to determine whether the pain actually warrants the medication or can be handled another way. Because there is no measure for pain, there is no real way for doctors to tell who really needs the drug.
"If a person has back surgery, the doctor treats the patient and unfortunately that treatment can go on for an extended period of time," said Levy of the types of people that can become addicted to pain pills. "There's the experienced user and there's the individual that goes in for an appropriate reason and eventually finds that the medication can be used for emotional pain and uses it for a purpose other than what it was intended for."
Levy, who practiced family medicine for many years before specializing in addiction treatment, attributes the dramatic rise in the abuse of pain medication with a change in the doctor-patient relationship. According to Levy, the system has allowed people to see many different doctors at different times.
"The doctor-patient relationship has changed dramatically, I think for the worst," Levy said. "It used to be that doctors and their patients were like family."
Because the Center for Addiction Medicine is the only private medical practice in Southern Nevada that specializes in addiction medicine, Levy is able to spend much more time with his patients, and believes good communication between a doctor and a patient is mandatory.
"Patients need to ask more questions, and demand that their questions are addressed," Levy said. "There are plenty of ways for patients to get information about their problems, especially with the Internet."
Taking the time to find out what their symptoms could be indicating is a good way for patients to be able to describe what they are feeling to their physician, and could make a diagnosis more accurate.
Levy does not believe pain medication is an unnecessary solution for those who are truly in pain.
"Addiction is abuse plus physiological dependency," said Levy, whose practice incorporates inpatient and outpatient recovery programs. "I don't want to chill appropriate treatment of pain because of abuse issues. Again, this is not a judgment on the medication. The problem is that medications are being used to treat stress. I see stress becoming more and more pervasive in the adult population, as well adolescents and children."
Despite the implications given about Las Vegas being a town where drug use and misuse is prevalent, Levy said the abuse of pain medication or muscle relaxers is a nationwide problem.
"I see patients that are spending $500 a week on pain medication," Levy said. "This isn't a Las Vegas problem. It doesn't matter where you are, it happens in every place."