Doctors rarely drink on the job, more often when they come home [FELIETON] – Medicine Pulse

published: today, 09-06-2023, 15:30

A drunken doctor – this is not the first nor the last revelation on the cover of a local newspaper from poviat Poland. Don’t worry about the names of the places, because they themselves are to blame. After all, not only there and not only the local elite, but everyone drinks with everyone. With and without incident, favoring the sky and doing something strongly on the side. Alcohol is harmful, but not them – that’s their motto.

A large bottle of 18-year-old Scotch whiskey is still among the traditional signs of the patients’ gratitude to the male part of the government of the medical area. In short: the doctors drowned in this community sink always had free alcohol, in abundance and of good quality. And that itself creates a kind of temptation.

The impending tragedy is heralded by the innocent drinking of alcohol by doctors at the hospital to kill stress. Although women are getting more and more from it. Relieved, the doctor gets into his car after work and accidentally hits an elderly lady who was sick in the hospital parking lot. Close friendships with county officials, from the parish priest to the chief of police, are useless at that time. The whole mixture suddenly fills my mouth with water, instead of beating my chest and taking the incident as the finger of God.

Doctors are afraid of being labeled “alcoholism” and professional death. Admitting to drinking is a real problem for doctors. It is not surprising, after all, that deception and denial lie at the root of addiction. The doctor is considered, and he sees himself as someone who, from a medical point of view, knows everything. Therefore, he thinks that he is in control of the situation, he knows the symptoms and effects of the disease. Some people make sure that not only their colleagues, but even their families know about their problem.

It even happens that, tormented by shame, they refuse to appear before the ombudsman of the regional professional liability in the treatment room, who, on the basis of media reports, conducts secret cases of information. This maneuver, which is sometimes recommended by lawyers, has short legs, because the case ends before the district medical court after two weeks.

The Code of Medical Ethics requires a doctor to exercise moderation in the practice of his profession. At the same time, it is not unusual for doctors to go to their hospitals and clinics the next day after a drunken dinner, a ball or a PhD graduation. Woe to those who believe in the magic that a short nap or a morning shower will restore them to a much-needed state of calm and be the basis for freeing them from the guilt of driving and running for medical appointments.

A slip that seems innocent will result in the suspension of the right to practice profession by the regional treatment room for the period until complete abstinence is achieved after the end of the treatment cycle in the addiction center. A cyclist is arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. A drunken footballer from the Polish Premier League pulled out of a contract with a possible lucrative move to the Spanish league overnight. But a famous dentist from Lesser Poland, drunk as hell, who removed the patient’s upper teeth without need, although he should have ground the teeth only for crowns, barely lived to see a reprimand from the medical court. In addition, our hero continued to heal while drunk.

Alcoholism is nothing to be proud of, but neither is it something to be ashamed of if you fight it and maintain abstinence. In the public’s view, a doctor who abuses alcohol is a person who has been convicted of a certain sentence. Because how can you heal when you’re drunk in order? At the same time, the society hidden behind the veil of hypocrisy, stigmatized by the seal of half a century of communism, agrees to tolerate alcoholism.

Working drunk is slowly becoming “shameful”. Psychologists say that doctors now rarely drink on the job, more often when they come home. They drink according to the schedule and keep their finger on the pulse. Courageous journalists and citizens along with arbitrary police inspections did their job. The alcoholism of his work environment hides behind the loss of the driving license of the head of the department or the head of the university clinic. The morning coffee at the meeting, christened half and half percent, should give them a kick to work.

We do not have representative surveys for doctors that would show which addiction is prevalent among them. It’s sad. Abroad, they are not afraid of such research. So what is holding us back? Think we are being treated by alcoholics? And often successfully. Who else needs the words: I’m a drunk stuck in my throat? Riding on a goblet from a wild boar hunt was once considered an expression of the doctor’s uhlan fantasy. For years, both ordinary and medical courts set the minimum sentence, even for repeat offenders. Low fines or symbolic hinges, in the opinion of the prisoners, were not punishments at all. Defense attorneys even fired at each other for their clients’ ridiculous reasons, and prosecutors made no effort to disprove them in court. Because they themselves did not pour over the collar. Only with immunity.

We must fight the cause, not the effect. All campaigns like “you only have one life” are a headache, because you can’t expect common sense from an addict, as his life has been dominated by addiction.

From a social point of view, alcoholism is still the result of a weak will, not a disease. And yet we have known for years that alcohol dependence is a disease of the central nervous system. Two people can drink the same amount, and one of them will be addicted and the other will not, which is neither a disadvantage nor an advantage. I wonder if a group of doctors suffering from Parkinsonism could also arouse such feelings in the media?

stankiewicz@hipokrates.org