Casey's Law

I met an amazing woman last Friday. Her name, Charlotte Wethington.

How do you recover from the death of your son, your only child? As if his death isn't bad enough, it came from a disease that is treatable. The disease of chemical dependence. Her 23 year old son Casey died of an overdose of heroin. And the sad thing is this, she had taken her son to the emergency room for an overdose...2 previous times! After his first ER visit...for an overdose of heroin...he was discharged because he refused to enter treatment. Why? Because there was no law that allowed the parents of a child over the age of 18 to mandate treatment. Even though an addict is incapable of making a rational decision when it comes to the use of drugs, they still can't have him admitted. And consider this. Casey was "recovering" from an overdose. Common sense tells you this person is OBVIOUSLY incapable of making a rational decision regarding treatment for drug addiction!

Ahhhh yes...this is the land where a land owner can lose control over what they do with their land if an endangered flea is found on their property. But intervene when a human is suffering from a treatable disease that renders them incapable of making a rational decision. Ohhhh no.....we wouldn't want to do that!

This country has lost it's mind!

The second ER visit within less than a year was for another heroin overdose. OK. Second OD in less than a year. Doesn't it seem "logical" that the person has demonstrated an inability to make rational decisions regarding the use of a potentially fatal drug? But again, we can't interfere with an irrational decision that might cause a death, but we WILL interfere with a terminally ill person's right to die with dignity. We WILL intervene if someone with severe, chronic, unrelenting pain that can't be cured seems to be taking "too much" pain medication. Even though it has been prescribed by a board certified pain specialist. Oh my! We wouldn't want this person who has no hope of a cure for their pain to become addicted! But it IS OK to let an already addicted individual die from their disease once it's already happened because we can't mandate them to treatment which is life saving!

What the hell is wrong with this picture?

When they were getting ready to discharge Casey, a nurse in the ER told his mother that her son hadn't lived long enough yet, he was too young to have "hit bottom" yet. He hadn't "lost enough". She said to the nurse, "What happens if never grows "old enough"? What happens if his "bottom" is death?" She had no idea she was predicting the future. Her son died several weeks later from one last overdose.

Charlotte, not willing to simply grieve the loss of her son, decided to make a difference. She began to research how to get a law passed. When she was told she would never succeed, she kept on plugging away. When more people told her it would take nothing less than 5 years to accomplish the passage of a bill. She did it in 2 years! As she told me in our discussion, rather than give up when a door would close in her face, she would find another and walk through that one.

I told her she was my hero for having the guts to do what needed to be done regardless of who it ticked off and who didn't like it.

I guess that's the power that a wounded mother is capable of, even if the wound was a fatal one...for her only child.

Treatment Failure or Inappropriate Treatment Paradigm?

Report: David Hasselhoff Hospitalized for Alcohol Poisoning

Monday, May 04, 2009

AP

David Hasselhoff

Actor David Hasselhoff was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital Saturday after his teenage daughter reportedly found him unconscious on the floor of his Encino California home as a result of alcohol poisoning.


The former “Baywatch” star reportedly registered a staggering .39 blood alcohol level. The legal limit in California is .08 percent.

A rep for Hasselhoff later said the actor regretted drinking too much Saturday, but is otherwise doing fine.

I wasn't surprised to read this story. And the comment by the Baywatch star is a perfect example of the pathological denial that is a part of this disease. "He
regrets drinking too much, but is otherwise doing fine." Excuse me? Fine?

Mr. Hasselhoff has been to treatment in the past and had a famous video filmed by his daughter when he was so drunk he couldn't get off the floor. This latest story is a good indication of how far his disease has progressed. Without intensive long term, residential treatment, Mr. Hassellhoff will undoubtedly be found dead in the next 5 to 10 years.

Many will point to this incident as proof that drug treatment doesn't work. On the surface that appears to be a logical conclusion. That would be an incorrect conclusion.

Condemning ALL addiction treatment modalities as failures because Mr. Hasselhoff relapsed is the same as saying when a person with cancer dies it proves ALL cancer treatments don't work, or that antibiotics don't work because someone died of overwhelming sepsis.

The scientific and medical approach to "legitimate" diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc. is based on one simple principle...recognize the signs and symptoms of the disease as early as possible and then begin the evidence based treatment protocols as soon as possible. The longer we wait to seek medical assessment and treatment, the more difficult treatment becomes, and the chance of a full recovery decreases.

Yet this is exactly what happens in almost all cases of addiction, regardless of the chemical abused. Most individuals don't recognize the early signs of substance abuse and addiction, especially if it's a family member or a colleague. When the disease progresses and signs become more pronounced, the family and colleagues may refuse to believe that the person is developing the disease of addiction. When the signs of addiction can no longer be ignored, they might tell the person to seek help. The addict isn't capable of recognizing the disease in themselves (pathological denial) and generally reacts in anger, telling everyone they don't have a problem and they can handle it themselves. Finally, someone will spout one of myths associated with this disease: "He hasn't hit bottom yet. Treatment won't work until the addict hits bottom.

Bottom for the disease of addiction (this includes alcohol) is death. The last time I checked, death can't be treated successfully.

In order to get the addict into treatment, an artificial bottom is created through a planned and rehearsed intervention. Once the addict accepts the gift of treatment, the protocols must be evidence based (that means they can show evidence of successful treatment outcomes) and of sufficient time and intensity to achieve the desired results...abstinence from mood altering drugs and a change in the way they approach life's situations. Recovery breaks through the wall of denial of the addict, the family and colleagues while providing safe detoxification from the drugs of abuse. It provides a safe environment and the addict is taught to recognize stressors and cues that lead to drug use, and then develop skills to deal with those triggers in order to remain clean and sober.

Returning to old places and the people we used drugs with is one of the major risk factors involved in returning to drug use. Moving back home with a family who received no counseling about their issues and inappropriate behaviors developed while trying to deal with the addict is like throwing an endangered species right back into the polluted lake that was killing them in the first place.

This is a family disease, both genetically and environmentally. If the addict is treated and the family is not, relapse is likely. It's time to change the paradigm of this disease and the treatment methods from an acute model (wait until there is a crisis and send them to short term treatment) to a chronic disease model (recognize it early, intervene, and treat it aggressively for longer periods of time, and then have appropriate followup care and support). Until that happens, there will be more tragedies like Mr. Hasselhoff.

Thank you Glenbeigh!

Gary, Pat, et al.....

Thank you so much for the hospitality! You guys are AWESOME!!

Excellent dinner as well! I look forward to our next meeting.

Jack

For more information about Glenbeigh treatment facilities, visit www.glenbeigh.com

Tell them Jack sent you.

On the road to Glenbeigh!

After a wild weather day here in Cincinnati (thunderstorms, winds up to 60 MPH) I'm driving 5 hours to Glenbeigh Hospital to give a presentation on the treatment guidelines for impaired nurses and nurse anesthesia providers.

Glenbeigh has an excellent treatment facility and a top-notch treatment team with an excellent program for impaired health care professionals. With the board of nursing steering fewer and fewer nurses into treatment, focusing mainly on discipline, it's imperative for intervention as early as possible. This protects the patients while providing the intense treatment required to arrest the progress of this deadly disease.

How can nursing ever hope to provide compassionate care to the chemically dependent in society when they can't provide that care to their own colleagues?