While Californian doctors could previously receive drug and alcohol treatment without their patient's knowledge, and while retaining their medical licenses, this program of professional rehabilitation has been suspended, and abusing doctors will now be required to forfeit their license to practice until they can demonstrate that they are no longer a threat to their patients. While this may seem a very logical policy, by increasing the barriers to rehab and the costs of treatment, the number of abusing doctors that do get help will decrease, and in fact more patients will be at risk from intoxicated doctors.

There are too many doctors suffering from addictions to the medications they prescribe. The combination of easy access and a stressful job create great temptation, and the statistics show that doctors are at great risk for addiction.