Doctors practicing while addicted?

[IDrinkaRum]

http://body.aol.com/news/health/article/_a/addicted-doctors-are-allowed-to-practice/20071219114609990001

Should doctors, who are addicted to alcohol/prescription drugs/drugs be allowed to practice while in rehab for their addictions? Some say yes while others say no.

[AFPheonix]

I would say no, but because I think that the doctor in question really needs to be concentrating on their own health at that point. I don't think that it necessarily needs to be disclosed to the doctor's patients that they're going into rehab, because at that point the doctor is a patient and is under the umbrella of HIPPA.
There's the added bonus that a doctor who may be impaired won't be screwing around with someone else's health either.

[CancelMyService]

Devil's Advocate question: Is a doctor in rehab more or less likely to be impaired than one who's on the last leg of a 36 hours-on shift?

[AFPheonix]

Interestingly, the overlong shifts that residents have had to work are being curtailed to help avoid mistakes due to exhaustion. However, the new problem that is arising is that since the residents aren't around their patients as much, they aren't developing the bonds with them like they used to, and are now more in the habit of treating them like meat than like people.

It's interesting the trade offs we make as we try different things out.

[rahmota]

AFP:It's interesting the trade offs we make as we try different things out.
Well this is why they call it a practice and not an exact science....

I am somewhat divided on this. Whiel I favor a good patient doctor relationship and dont like being treated as just a meat puppet with some symptoms I do like my doctor to be awake, aware and not impaired when they are messing aroud with my health. The point of going to them is to get better not worse.

If the doctor themselves is being a patient then no their patients don't need to be told anythign other than the doctor is taking a sabbatical is ill and wil recover whatever. They are human too and people need to be aware of that. The thing is though operating or otherwise prescribing medicines and other doctor stuff while impaired should be considered malpractice and if not liscnce yanking worthy at the very least probation and a close watching after they get out of rehab. Assuming they didnt screw up someones life or get them killed.