Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Editorial written while 'sitting on one's duff'

Good editorial writing requires more than sitting on one's duff, grabbing a catchy item off the wire, and pontificating authoritatively from the Big Chair on topics about which the writer has limited understanding.

The July 16 editorial regarding doctors with problems is a case in point. Had the editorial writer taken the time to put some meat on the bones of his embryonic idea by picking up the phone and calling the local hospitals, the appropriate licensing boards in Augusta, or by doing a simple Internet search for related information, he would have discovered another side to the story.

The Maine medical community is indeed very actively involved in monitoring itself for doctors with problems and in providing structured plans of supported recovery for impaired physicians.

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (A.S.A.M.) is a recognized medical specialty. There are more than two dozen ASAM-certified physicians in Maine alone. There are also a number of Impaired Physician programs nationwide which have helped many professionals with substance abuse problems achieve recovery and monitored re-entry into their fields of expertise.

I had the great pleasure and opportunity to work for many years as a substance abuse counselor under the leadership of the late Dr. Richard Corbett and the late Dr. Thomas McDermott. These were knowledgeable, dedicated physicians who helped thousands of people from all walks of life, including impaired peers, to climb into recovery from the depths of a hell known only by the addicted. There are professionals alive and continuing to excel in their specialties today thanks to physicians like them throughout Maine and the rest of the country working in concert with Impaired Physician rehabilitation programs.

I would suggest the editor ensure there is ink in his pen before putting it to paper.

Jeff Marsh

Shawmut