Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-04-19
Doctors Worried
Over Own Drug Rate

disorder in the background which
leads to addiction" He says that
there are three main categories
into which most doctor-addicts
fall:
There are physicians with a
penchant for liquor who may use
opiates to sober up or kill the
hangover symptoms: there are
physicians who use drugs TO
eliminate fatigue. and there are
those who suffer painful disease
and may prescribe overdoses Of
sedatives in an attempt at self
cure.
No Warning
I'VE were warned repeatedly
to stop narcotics two or three
days after an operation" recalls
a physician who fell into the
third category, but not a word
Of warning was sounded about
what would happen II the doctor
took them for an aching back or
painful joints when he had to
keep going.
I'VE had plenty Of lectures on
how to prescribe narcotics. but
not q word regarding the hell on
earth that comes after q doctor
takes his first Dose"
Not long ago, 45-year-old
Jerome H. Toupkin was held in
$4,000 bail by a Chicago grand
jury. Toupkin became addicted
after practicing medicine in
Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
His addiction was discovered in
1916, his medical license revoked.
Toupkin was admitted to the
Public Health Service Hospital in
Lexington to take the cure.
But on his release, he returned
to the habit" AS in most cases.
he needed ever-increasing doses
to achieve the effect. This meant
he needed more money than he
could afford.
Took to Crime
After he was arrested, he ad-
mitted that, in the previous four
years, he had staged more than
400 robberies to get drug money.
This may seem an extreme case.
But here is the story told by an
other physician.
After my internship. I settled
in an Eastern city. The war came
along, and I was declared essen
tial for civilian practice. From
the first day. my business doomed.
Going night and day, ! would
come home so tired and tense that
sleep was impossible.
II began taking nembutal cap
sules, but they took too long to
work. To speed things up, I filled
a syringe with w nembutal and
slipped it into my vein. Before /
hit the bed, I was asleep. Impos-
sible as this may sound, thought
1t was smart. Just look at all the
time I was saving getting to sleep.
Zone evening I came home with
my back aching, my feet swollen
and sore. But I had promised my
little l5-year-old daughter I'd take
her roller-skating. I was sure I
wouldn't be able to put on a pair
Of skates If didn't do something
for the pain. So, surreptitiously,
I went into the bedroom, took a
vial of Demerol from my bag and
gave myself shot. I went skating
and felt swell; In fact, never had
a better time.
THAT started me off. I had
found an escape from my pain and
fatigue. But I little realized that
! was falling into hell"
Good Intentions
Even efforts to aid mankind
may lead to addiction. There is.
for example, the case Of a dean
Of a large university medical
school in the midwest. Taking
part in some research, he was
studying the various pain-killing
agents to try to learn more about
the human body's reaction to pain.
Sometimes he made tests on him.
self, using drugs In the expert
mentS.
The outcome was that not long
ago this doctor felt the need for
voluntary admission to a Public
Health Service narcotics ward.
At California hospital, an in
tern discovered how much "fun"
he could have by taking a little
demerol. He started another resi-
dent physician trying it, too, and
before long they had drawn one
of the staff nurses into their party
The hospital authorities were OF
course mortified when they
learned what was going on be-
hind closed doors.
But unfortunately, according to
DR.. Fox, the authorities flushed
the matter up" and did not give
single word of warning to other
inexperienced people who joined
the hospitals staff. Naturally
every medical institution must
guard its reputation. But if it
values its reputation deeply
enough. it will instruct its per-
sonnet adequately for their own
safety and for the safety Of the
patients. We've all got to know
the facts Of life when 1t comes
to narcotic addiction"
How They're Detected
Doctors who take dope usually
are discovered not because 9
patient detects any unusual be-
havior, but because the physician
tries to hide his trouble by charg-
ing off to various patients the
narcotics he is himself consuming
It's not long before the increase
in the amount of drugs the doctor
is prescribing is noted by a mar.
cotics agent. who starts investi-
eating the why's and wherefores
Druggists are quick to notice
any abnormality in the number Of
narcotic doses prescribed by any
physician" according to the late