wizard willing to do anything he had to do to help his patient. And that was the reason

why, ten years earlier, Bob King had consulted Julius for treatment of his long–standing

addiction to Vicodan (the physician–addict`s drug of choice because it is so easily

accessible). At that time King was in serious trouble. His Vicodan needs had dramatically

increased: his marriage was in jeopardy, his practice was suffering, and he had to drug

himself to sleep every night.

Bob tried to enter therapy, but all doors were closed for him. Every therapist he

consulted insisted that he enter an impaired physician recovery program, a plan which

Bob resisted because he was loath to compromise his privacy by attending therapy groups

with other physician–addicts. The therapists wouldn`t budge. If they treated a practicing

addicted physician without using the official recovery program, they would place

themselves at risk of punitive action by the medical board or of personal litigation (if, for

example, the patient made an error of judgment in clinical work).

As a last resort before quitting his practice and taking a leave of absence to be

treated anonymously in another city, he appealed to Julius, who accepted the risk and

trusted Bob King to withdraw on his own from Vicodan. And, though therapy was

difficult, as it always is with addicts, Julius treated Bob for the next three years without

the help of a recovery program. And it was one of those secrets that every psychiatrist

had—a therapeutic success that could in no way be discussed or published.

Julius sat in his car after leaving his internist`s office. His heart pounded so hard

the car seemed to shake. Taking a deep breath to quell his mounting terror, then another

and another, he opened his cell phone and, with trembling hands, called Bob King for an

urgent appointment.