According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Addiction, over 90 percent of U.S. treatment programs currently offer group counseling and referral to AA, but no access to medications or evidence-based behavioral treatments. Almost all residential treatment programs in the United States are based either partially or entirely on the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Is there any scientific evidence to support AA as a clinical treatment? Should addiction treatment centers make enormous profits by simply funneling substance abusers into the free fellowship of AA? These questions are addressed in The Business of Recovery ‒ a 2015 documentary film. Like many documentaries, it offers some startling statistics ‒ including this provocative one delivered early in the 81-minute film:
“I became the Director of the Alcoholism Treatment Unit at Harvard’s McLean Hospital. I’ve probably treated a couple of thousand people who have one addiction or another. Almost all residential treatment programs in the United States are 12-Step based, so their effectiveness will depend entirely on whether 12-Step programs work and the statistics for AA are not good. It is helpful for 5‒10% and that’s a good thing. That’s 5‒10% of people who are being helped by AA ‒ it’s a lot better than zero percent ‒ but it shouldn’t be thought of as the standard of treatment because it fails for most people ‒ for the vast majority of people.”
~ Lance Dodes, MD ‒ Addiction Expert & Author ‒ Harvard Medical School Graduate, The Business of Recovery
Leading specialists in prescription opioid addiction treatments
It’s extremely rare to find a physician who is board-certified in addiction medicine and substance abuse. Allpria Healthcare’s medical director, Christopher J. Frandrup, MD, understands that addiction is a medical problem, not a willpower problem. He has successfully helped patients in 86 countries around the world who became addicted to opioid painkillers during military service and many other people with substance addictions.
Allpria Healthcare of Thornton and Aurora, CO specializes in prescription opioid dependence and treating the underlying cause. We address both psychological pain and physical pain using evidence-based treatments that include injection therapies, pain pumps, opioid alternatives and advanced pain blockers.
As our patient, you will have ongoing conversations with your doctor as you progress through treatment. In our experience, too many addiction specialists avoid helping you deal with mental health issues that may be feeding your addiction. Too many addiction patients receive fragmented care, not to mention the inconvenience of being bounced from one program or specialist to another without relief. Simply put, the doctors at Allpria Healthcare want to change that so you get all the care and compassion you need to return to a healthy, fulfilling life.
Effective solutions for opioid dependence
Physical addiction to prescription painkillers affects far too many people in the United States. It has reached epidemic proportions in recent years as millions of Americans became addicted to common prescription painkillers such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl. You might know them by their better-known brand names like OxyContin®, Vicodin® and Percocet®. Heroin is also an opioid.
Our board-certified pain management doctors recognize that opioid dependence is a chronic disease that can affect anyone, including a friend, coworker, spouse, child, sibling or parent. People struggling with opioid dependence are often reluctant to seek help due to the social stigma of “drug dependence” or the notion that they simply lack self-control or willpower, which is completely false.
