That drug-addict doctor is a sad story of what a drug addiction can do to someone. That doctor wasn't looking to get addicted, he was prescribed a far, far too powerful narcotic for a dental procedure and he was clearly pre-disposed to becoming addicted to narcotics. He didn't try drugs at a party, he was legitimately prescribed a too large of a precription of a too powerful narcotic and became addicted. Why that dentist decided to start that doc on oxycontin vs some of the weaker pain meds or no pain meds is not clear to me. My dad once told me that his dentist gave him some morphine many years ago. He didn't get addicted to it, but the high he got from it did give him plenty of empathy towards drug addicts. To think of it another way, had this doc not had that dental procedure, he'd probably be a normal, practicing physician right now. It sounds like he even had a chance to get treated, but he did not receive the treatment that he needed then too. With most addicts, the system and they failed themselves. It's not fair how some people can try crack or heroin or a legally prescribed narcotic a couple times and walk away from the experience, while others have their entire lives consumed by it. Incidentally, we had surgery professor that was convicted of prescription fraud related to his drug use of oxycontin. I read that they were spending in excess of 200-300,000 a year on oxycontin, with much of their habit being supported by the sale of fraudulent prescriptions. It's scary trying pain meds, because you never know if you are pre-disposed to becoming addicted. Had you asked most physicians who end up addicted whether they had thought there was even a slight possibility that they would become addicted to narcotics, they probably would have laughed in your face.
