Addiction is a serious malady affecting many people today. It’s brought about by abusing substances known to be addictive that trick our brain into thinking it needs the substance and the person gets very ill if it isn’t satisfied. It ruins relationships, careers and lives.

What if the person looked to for healing and advice is the one who is addicted? The truth is 10–15 percent of all American doctors — or about 8,000 doctors — are addicted to one substance or another. Just as large a percentage of doctors are alcoholics as the rest of the population.

Doctors Cannot Treat Themselves for Addiction

California medical malpractice lawyers can prove that a doctor that is a drug addict or alcoholic is very dangerous. They treat our disease, prescribe medicines, perform surgery on us, and give us medical advice, all while under the influence of something. There are many horror stories about doctors that have performed bungled surgeries that left patients uncured, maimed, and scarred for life. Some have even killed, unintentionally.

Doctors don’t tend to reach out for help. Or, if they do, they are still allowed to practice medicine while under secret care of rehabilitators. In California the American Medical Association permits doctors to keep anonymity while in treatment, much to the chagrin of medical boards across the nation.

Under the federal Zero Tolerance laws, doctors must have their license to practice medicine stripped immediately upon admitting they have a problem. This may sound a bit harsh, since their career is pretty much ruined right then and there. But remember, they have our lives in their hands, and their hands must be clean.