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In late Spring of 2021, Dr. Steve attended a Legatus meeting in northern New Jersey where Keaton Douglas, Executive Director of iTHIRST, was the featured speaker for the evening.  Keaton’s talk inspired Dr. Steve to want to learn more about the spiritual dimension of wellness, and how that, coupled with his own clinical expertise, might work to best serve patients who were struggling with many neurological issues, as well as various substance use disorders. Dr. Steve became a participant in the 2^nd Seton Hall cohort, becoming a certified iTHIRST Spiritual Companion in the Summer of last year.

When asked how the iTHIRST training has affected his life or the lives of those with whom he works, Dr. Steve replied, “I am applying the iTHIRST companionship training in my practice daily, listening to my heart intently as my patients tell me their stories. When I see/hear an opening to talk about faith and spirituality I ask them how important it is in their lives. If they are receptive, I talk a little bit about iTHIRST and give them resources. “

Dr. Steve is also using the motivational interviewing techniques from the ITSC training to get patients to open up and discern appropriate next steps for themselves. 
He shared, “During one of the encounters with a patient, I used the “develop discrepancy technique” that I learned from the course, and it worked.  It got my patient to realize what she had been doing wrong.  She set a boundary and took action.” 

Thank you, Dr. Steve!  You have really set an example for others in the medical field to realize the importance of treating the totality of the human person – mind, body, and spirit!

You are a great example and an inspiration to all! 

Several weeks ago, a friend and colleague shared that she was going to have a knee laparoscopy to repair a minor tear in her meniscus.  This wasn’t her first knee repair, and so she approached the procedure without much trepidation.   A few days before the surgery, she got a notification from her pharmacy that she had a prescription waiting for her. Confused, she traveled the short distance to the pharmacy to figure out what exactly had been prescribed to her without her knowledge. When she arrived, she found a prescription in her name for 15 Percocet for her post-surgical care, even though she hadn’t even needed a Tylenol after the first surgery. This was more devastating to our friend, as she had witnessed her son’s own 15-year struggle with opioid addiction after he was prescribed copious amounts of opioids after a minor surgery himself.  His addiction ultimately led to his tragic overdose death only four years prior.

In an outraged text message to several of the iTHIRST Team, our colleague shared, “They prescribed it without even telling me!! I just can’t believe doctors are still doing this after all that’s happened.  I’m fuming.  The message has not gotten out there.”

Indeed, the message still has not gotten out there fully.  Namely, opioids are still being overprescribed for minor procedures.  While there are, admittedly, many who suffer from debilitating chronic pain which must be managed by opioids, there is no doubt that there are still many prescribed opioids given to those who could get by with over-the-counter pain medicines for minor procedures. 

A recent article from The Washington Post, entitled, “Inside the sales machine of the ‘kingpin’ of opioid makers,” (May 10, 2022- link below) describes the history of this pattern of overprescribing which has recently come to light as the result of new evidence released in 1.4 million records from the nation’s largest manufacturer of opioids.  While Purdue Pharma has clearly garnered the most public attention and outrage, it has not been the largest manufacturer of opioids, nor even the worst offender when it comes to promoting overprescribing.  That dubious title belongs to the little-known manufacturer, Mallinckrodt, who literally had a stable of doctors, numbering in the hundreds, whom they could count on to write “a steady stream of pain pills.” The article states that between 2006 and 2014, Mallinckrodt had a 27% market share of opioids prescribed in the nation, compared to 18% for Purdue Pharma.  Mallinckrodt’s 30mg oxycodone tablet became the street drug of choice, so much so that the drug smuggling route between Florida and Appalachia became known as the “Blue Highway,” so named for the baby blue pill.

While the article goes on to state that many of those Mallinckrodt ‘preferred doctors’ went on to have their licenses revoked, were convicted of crimes related to their medical practices, and paid significant fines, it also reveals that in the middle of the crisis Mallinckrodt knew that their 30mgs were the most popular and they continued to promote them with reckless abandon.

One bereaved mother from Boston who lost two of her three children to overdoses stressed that the release of these documents would help heal families who want to know what happened to their child, where it started and who is to blame. 

In her book, Drug Dealer, MD,  Dr. Anna Lemke writes that the drug epidemic is not just the problem of a few ‘deviant’ doctors who overprescribed for personal gain, but rather, “ it is the result of a large population of well-intended doctors working in health care factories that prioritize through-put of body parts on an assembly line over whole-patient health…Pills that are addictive are particularly likely to be overprescribed because they provide patient-customers with short-term satisfaction and a proxy for human attachment—but not necessarily improved health.”

Upon arrival at the pharmacy, my colleague refused the Percocets. The pharmacy had to dispose of them.  Perhaps, for all of us in these situations, it’s time to use that oft-maligned slogan of the ’80s.  It’s time for us to “Just Say No.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2022/mallinckrodt-documents-doctors-sales/

When you think of a Saint of the Church what comes to mind?  Perhaps the Holy Apostles, the first messengers of the Good News?  Perhaps some of the Doctors of the Church, like Aquinas or Augustine, St. Teresa of Avila, or the Little Flower, St. Therese de Lisieux? Or perhaps your mind goes to some of those most pious of more recent times, like St. Padre Pio, St. Teresa of Calcutta, or St. John Paul II? Had you ever even considered that someone who might be afflicted with the disease of addiction, might himself be considered a holy and most worthy Saint?  If you hadn’t, then this is an opportunity to introduce you to St. Mark Ji Tianxiang.

St Mark, or Ji, as he is often called, was a devout Catholic and a medical doctor, born in 1834 in what is now Hebei, China.  It is thought that he contracted some sort of malady that attacked his stomach, and he began self-treatment using opium.  He quickly became addicted to the drug, which became his lifelong struggle.  Still, Ji maintained his very strong faith, regularly receiving the sacraments, spending time in prayer, and attending daily mass.  At a certain point, his parish priest denied Ji the sacraments, thinking that he must have been of little moral strength, not being able to ‘just stop’ his opium use.  For 30 years, Ji was denied the sacraments, yet he remained faithful and continued to attend daily mass.  After 30 years he was once again permitted to partake in the Holy Eucharist and in Reconciliation.

Ji was one of the many Christians killed during the Boxer Rebellion in July of 1900.  Rebels, protesting Western Imperialism, considered Christianity a distinctly Western religion, and so the “Boxers,” rebels largely trained in Chinese martial arts, or “Chinese boxing,” killed nearly 32,000 Chinese Christians and 200 Western Missionaries in northern China.  Ji insisted that he be the last among his group killed so that he could provide spiritual consolation to each of them as they were beheaded.  Ji was beheaded for refusing to refute his Christianity on July 7^th, 1900.

In 1946, Pope Pius XII beatified Ji and 120 other Chinese martyrs. He was canonized on October 1^st, 2000, by St. John Paul II, then the Holy Father.

St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, you, like St. Paul, understood what it was like to be tortured by a compulsion to do something you didn’t want to do.  Help us to overcome our attachments in our lives so as to worship God with as much devotion as you did.  St. Mark Ji, pray for us!

On March 8^th, 1956, young Rita Agnese Petrozzi felt a calling from God to enter a religious order, leaving her impoverished beginnings, her small Italian town, and her family behind. Arriving at the convent of the Sisters of Charity in Borgaro, Turin, Rita became Sr. Elvira, where she served the poor and served as a cook for her fellow nuns for 28 years. 

Sr. Elvira developed a strong affinity for young people during her tenure in Borgaro, especially those who were in the throes of addiction.  She watched them wandering aimlessly in the streets and in the piazze.  She understood that these young people were suffering from deeply rooted pain and were seeking to assuage this pain by numbing themselves through drugs and alcohol. Sr. Elvira was called by God to help!

On July 16^th, 1983, in a dilapidated house in the Italian countryside, Sr. Elvira(now known as Mother Elvira) established the first Comunita’ Cenacolo, where young people, suffering from addictions, would come to live in a humble Christian environment.  Here they would be transformed by prayer, hard work, personal sacrifice, and Christ’s ineffable love and mercy. 

Today, the Comunita’ Cenacolo (Cenacle Community) runs 70 houses in Europe, Central America, and the United States, serving the needs of this vulnerable and marginalized population, by giving their lives meaning and purpose.  Mother Elvira is truly an example of how one person, listening to her call from the Lord, can change the world for good!  Brava, Mother Elvira! May we all learn by your example!