Center for Addiction Medicine

There is an innovative approach to addiction medicine that is dramatically increasing availability of treatment to patients who find themselves in the spiral of addiction. Intensive outpatient treatment offers several advantages over conventional inpatient treatment. Outpatient treatment, when appropriate, allows the patient to remain on their job, defeating a major roadblock to many families who are sometimes forced to make a decision between paying a mortgage and saving a life. Living at home and the much lower cost of outpatient treatment also opens the doors to far more people who truly need help.

Dr. Levy’s program, which began in 1998, is the first and only private medical practice in the state of Nevada dedicated specifically to the treatment of alcohol, prescription medication and illicit drug abuse and addiction. Dr. Levy utilizes the “Living in Balance” intensive outpatient program developed by Hazelden. It’s the only program of its kind in Southern Nevada for treatment of addictive diseases and one of the few in the state overseen by an addiction physician.

Dr. Levy confronts addiction on a daily basis in a city synonymous with excess abuse. The biggest expansion of addiction today is prescription medication. Institutionalized employment related drug testing has in some cases moved the casual user of marijuana or other illegal substances into dangerous addictive prescription medications that are “acceptable” to employers because they are prescribed by a doctor. About half of Dr. Levy’s patients are currently being treated for abuse of pain medications including drugs such as Lortab and Vicodin. These pain killers have become a national health issue with local consequences. In fact, they rival meth as the most abused drugs in our state.

Dr. Levy has dedicated more than 25 years of his medical career to the treatment of alcohol and drug dependencies. Dr. Levy’s unique and affordable six-week outpatient therapy allows for morning and evening programs to give people with addiction diseases in this 24-hour town as many opportunities for treatment as possible. His vast medical experience in general medicine, psychiatry, psychology and pharmacology as well as his years in the Navy help him bring structure to the lives of his patients who often find their lives in turmoil.

Dr. Levy’s outpatient program has a long track record of success with patients who have found themselves confronting addiction and who have found themselves relapsing again and again after seeking prior treatment.

Also, Dr. Levy serves as a regular consultant to the State Bar of Nevada and Nevada Board of Nursing and is a member of the moral, character and fitness committee for the State Bar. He also serves as an expert witness in numerous high profile civil and criminal cases, and aids Nevada’s District Courts by providing addiction evaluation in custody cases for the Family Court.

Additionally, Dr. Levy is one of the few physicians in Nevada licensed for Hythiam Treatment Protocols (Prometa) in an outpatient setting and is licensed by the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe Subutex/Suboxone for opiate dependence. Licensed in Nevada and Arizona, Dr. Levy has received certification by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians. He has also received certification by the American Society of Addiction Medicine and is one of just 230 doctors in the country to be named a fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

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