Tulsa World: Program provides help to doctors with addictions

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Program provides help to doctors with addictions

By KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer
Published: 11/22/2009 2:19 AM
Last Modified: 11/23/2009 1:03 PM

Search a Tulsa World database of disciplined doctors from 2000 through 2009.

Just like everyone else, doctors need help when an addiction takes control of their lives, says Dr. Merlin Kilbury, the associate director of a statewide program that provides that assistance.

Sponsored by the Oklahoma State Medical Association, the Health Professionals Program assists and monitors physicians and other health-care professionals who are addicted to drugs, alcohol or pornography, or who have committed sexual misconduct or have anger issues.

The Oklahoma Medical Board of Licensure and Supervision almost always mandates physicians or other professionals who have been disciplined for these issues participate in the program, he said.

A supervisor can also refer a doctor to the program, Kilbury said.

"Say a doc shows up acting inebriated or some meds are missing," hospital leaders can ask the group to step in and assess the situation, he said.

Formerly called Impaired Physicians, the program has been around for 20 to 25 years. The group holds a 12-step group meeting every Thursday evening called Caduceus, which refers to the symbol of the American medical profession.

Kilbury, along with director Dr. Lanny Anderson, require doctors to sign five-year contracts requiring them to adhere to the recovery guidelines. They find long-term residential treatment, provide 12-step meetings and perform frequent drug tests. For doctors who have made sufficient progress, the program will advocate for the doctors with hospitals, medical clinics and insurance companies.

Fifty health-care professionals currently are under contract with the group, and an additional 50 participate in the group's programs, he said.

Kilbury is a prime example of what the program does. He had his share of alcohol and substance abuse in the 1980s and 1990s, suffering the humiliation and stigma of his downfall. But he went through the program and has been clean for years.

"I've turned this into a real positive and I'm OK," he said.

Amid a growing shortage of physicians and with the time and money invested in each physician's education and training, Kilbury said the group wants to salvage the doctors' careers and "return this resource to the state."

"We want people to be in recovery and sobriety because we're going to turn the keys over to them again," he said. "They are going to be able to operate; they're going to be able to order medications. We want them to be in recovery and be an asset to this state."

Kim Archer 581-8315
kim.archer@tulsaworld.com By KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer

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mayor_maynot, Tulsa (11/22/2009 10:35:10 AM)

OH.

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