Addiction Specialist Shortage Leads Many Patients to Primary Care

As the nation suffers a shortage of addiction medicine specialists, patients are left under the care of their primary doctors, who are often undertrained to give proper treatment. “There are more doctors out there prescribing heavy doses of narcotics than there are out there trying to help people get off of them,” said Richard D. Blondell, MD, professor of family medicine and National Center for Physician Training in Addiction Medicine board member.