YOUNG DOCTORS IN DESPAIR: GPs SUCCUMB TO DRUG

He's young. He's successful. Possibly married with children and in his 30s.
But he's an injecting drug user. Even more surprisingly - he's a doctor.

Doctors, particularly males, have a higher rate of drug abuse, mental
illness and suicide compared with similar socio-econoinic groups or the
general public.

Just over 100 of the 23,000 registered doctors in NSW are thought to have
drug abuse problems and the most commonly abused drug is pethidine.

About 20 of these doctors arr helped by medical authorities each year. But
a study in today's Medical Journal of Australia of 79 doctors who had their
prescribing rights for addictive drugs withdrawn after their drug abuse
became known shows outcomes for these doctors are not good.

Ten doctors in the study died, including three who committed suicide. There
were five known attempted suicides and 17 left the profession or were
deregistered.

Eight four per cent of doctors in the study were male and 81 per cent were
GPs. Some 56 per cent were aged 30 to 39. Rural doctors were also
over-represented.

The NSW Medical Board has a program for "impaired doctors", including those
with addictions. Doctors on the program have their prescribing rights
restricted and are supervised in practice. They must also submit to regular
urine tests before being allowed to return to unrestricted practice.

An editorial in the journal calls for improved rehabilitation programs,
saying deterrents and surveillance are already as well developed as is
practical.

Study co-author Dr James Bell, an addiction specialist in Surry Hills, said
although there was no fixed profile of the drug-addicted doctor, the group
did include a recognisable subset who simply did not wish to be doctor.

"Once you become a doctor it is hard to stop being one," he said. "One
hypothesis is that people find themselves trapped in a situation they don't
want to be in."

He said the problems experienced by doctors highlighted just how disabling
addiction was. "Here you have a high functioning group of people with a
significant amount of support who, despite every incentive, run into
considerable strife."