"Change is overdue. Physicians who need help for mental health issues or substance use disorders need to get it in a manner that is free of financial and other conflicts of interest. They need to be able to go to academic centers and/or the best clinicians possible and get unbiased opinions and advice.

Boards of medicine need to stop giving PHPs carte blanche to dictate what physicians need if there is suspicion of a substance use disorder.

Every physician in the U.S.—and, in fact, every patient—ought to join in calling for fairness and transparency in PHP recommendations. Until there is a groundswell of opposition against standard practices, physicians will continue to get extorted, and they and their patients will continue to suffer."

J. Wesley Boyd is a psychiatrist.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "The extortion of physicians: If doctors don't pay up they don't work."

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What doctors need to know about physician health programs

The Podcast by KevinMD