Moderation Management Flap Sparks Resignation July 11, 2000
News Summary
The director of the Smithers Addiction Treatment and Research Center at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York has resigned over a treatment controversy, the New York Times reported July 11.Program director Dr. Alex DeLuca recently decided to include moderation management in the Smithers Center's treatment regime, which previously focused exclusively on abstinance. Moderation management limits, rather than prohibits, the use of alcohol or other drugs by patients. The decision provoked a storm of protest, leading DeLuca to resign his position. The hospital then released a statement saying that Smithers will remain focused on abstinance-based treatment.
DeLuca wanted to refocus the clinic toward an approach that advocates controlled drinking. Since its founding in 1970, the Smithers Center had always been dedicated to the 12-step approach used by Alcoholics Anonymous. It encourages alcoholics to give up alcohol entirely and rely on a support system of other alcoholics.
DeLuca denied that he wanted to move away from the center's emphasis on abstinence. "Our treatment programs never changed," he said. "We are an abstinence-oriented treatment program, and our treatments are geared to have people maintain sobriety. I was only suggesting that you could engage people in a kinder, gentler manner rather than telling them that they had to sign up for a goal of achieving abstinence from the beginning."
The moderation management approach has been heavily criticized by a number of other rehabilitation clinics, including the Betty Ford Center. The founder of the moderation approach, Audrey Kishline, recently pleaded guilty on two counts of vehicular homicide after she killed a 38-year-old electrician and his 12-year-old daughter while driving drunk.
The Smithers Center accepted DeLuca's resignation, releasing a statement that said the center had a "long and proud tradition of treating alcoholism by advocating total abstinence. Since Dr. Alex DeLuca does not support the program philosophy, we have accepted his resignation."
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