LEAVE DOCTORS ALONE

To The Editor:

"Drug abuse by doctors growing" (feature, Nov. 9) gave the real reason for
the sudden concern about age-old drug abuse by doctors: Lyle R. Kelsey,
executive director of Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure, said,
"There's no shortage of business for us." The Health Professionals Recovery
Program, under the influence of the licensure board and the Physicians
Liability Insurance Program, describes its "treatment program" as a
benevolent intrusion into the private lives of doctors.

It's objectionable and unnecessary to subject doctors to five years of
aftercare, including random drug screening, following in-patient treatment.
Dr. William Stewart Halstead, one of the four founders of Johns Hopkins
Hospital and considered the "father of modern surgery," was himself a
morphine addict. We didn't find this out until 1969, when we read his
journal posthumously and learned that he used morphine to kick his cocaine
addiction. Certainly his behavior was beyond reproach; his addiction didn't
necessitate a "big brother" organization to monitor his activities.

If a famous physician such as Halstead could lead a highly productive life
without the unwelcome interference of the Health Professionals Recovery
Program or having a 12-step brainwashing program forced upon him, I'm not
so sure that either doctors or the public would actually profit from such
an intrusion now. The program would do better to leave doctors alone and
treat the underlying causes of addictive behavior to which the article refers.

Ray Carlson

Redwood City, Calif.