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FORT WRIGHT, Ky. (AP) — Mina "Mike" Kalfas wanted nothing more than to practice family medicine in Northern Kentucky where he grew up. But then he got called in to help fill a vacancy at the drug and alcohol treatment center next door.
That was nearly 20 years ago. The Kentucky Enquirer reports (http://cin.ci/1n5NsHG) today Kalfas is one of the region's premier addiction doctors, with more patients seeking his help than he can accommodate.
As it turned out, Kalfas liked addiction medicine, growing attached to his struggling patients.
"I started treating them and saw their vulnerability," he said. "And realized that no one wanted to take care of them. No one was defending them. Standing with them. For them."
He now sees more than 300 addiction patients, most addicted to heroin. And Kalfas says he has to turn away new patients three or four times a week.
Kalfas realized early on that the just-say-no treatment wouldn't work for heroin addicts. In 2002, when the FDA approved the synthetic opiate Suboxone for opiate addiction treatment, Kalfas jumped on it, getting training and certification within a year.
He now treats 100 patients with the drug, the limit allowed by the federal government. He says he would treat more if he could.
Kalfas feels he is barely making a dent in the thousands addicted to heroin in Northern Kentucky, and he would like to see every family physician treat heroin-addicted patients.
It is a medical disease, he says, and needs to be treated medically, just like diabetes or cancer.
"I see going forward, with the sheer numbers with addiction, primary care has to develop skills to handle this problem. They're on the front lines, and it's a primary care disorder."
If that doesn't happen, Kalfas says, "More people are going to die."
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Information from: The Kentucky Enquirer, http://www.nky.com
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