The Face of Alcoholism

What does an alcoholic look like? If I described a homeless man, dirty and disheveled, laying on the sidewalk with a bottle in his hand, you might agree. If I described a college boy waking up after another night partying, bleary eyed, having his “hair of the dog” beer when he wakes up, you might agree that he too looks like an alcoholic. What if I described a clean-cut, well-dressed man in an expensive suit and tie, a doctor even, in his white coat, with a thriving career, a professor whom others look up to and learn from? Would you think he looks like an alcoholic? Probably not.

Substance Abuse is the clinical term used for disorders that involve recreational drugs, like alcohol. The distinction is made between dependence, which is not having adequate control over the use of the substance, and abuse, which means the user is dependent on the substance, with evidence of maladaptive behavior, such as driving while intoxicated. The American Psychiatric Association states that alcohol is “by far the predominant cause of premature and preventable illness, disability and death in our society”. The list of health problems that result from alcohol abuse are endless and shocking and well known, especially to doctors. They face the results of substance abuse at work regularly in one form or another. They are the people who commit their lives to healing, preventing illness and death, committing themselves to “doing no harm”.

On 9/11 in 2009, Dr. Raymond Cook with a blood alcohol level three times over the legal limit, drove his car down Strickland Rd. in Raleigh, speeding up to 85 MPH, ran a red light, and smashed into another car killing the driver, Elena Shapiro. Raymond Cook is 41 years old and records show that he had a DWI as long as 20 years ago. After the accident he willingly surrendered his license to practice medicine, and joined AA. AA’s 12 step program has been helping people attain and maintain sobriety with it’s only requirement being the desire to stop drinking. Dr. Cook maintains that since that day he has not had a single drink. Good for him, but Dr Cook knew he was an alcoholic, he openly admitted it. Why did he wait until he took another person’s life to face it and deal with it?

Elena Shapiro was the 20 year old woman killed by Raymond Cook that day. She was the prima ballerina at the Carolina Ballet, preparing to perform the lead in Swan Lake. Elena died shortly after the accident. Raymond Cook was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, felony death by motor vehicle and driving while impaired. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison...and then? He has his career, his freedom and his life back.