Rapid detox for prescription drug addiction

Michael H. Lowenstein, M.D.
Co-Director of the Waismann Institute

Prescription drug abuse has led to unprecedented numbers of people becoming addicted. Pain killers and opiods are among the most abused drugs. Recently  I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Michael Lowenstein, Co-Director of the Waismann Institute in Los Angeles to discuss his approach to opiod detox.

Question:  Dr Lowenstein, what is rapid detox and how is it different from traditional detox methods?

Rapid detox or Accelerated Neuro-Regulation (ANR) is based on a method  of treatment developed in Israel by Dr. André Waismann.  In 1982, Dr. Waismann was completing his military service in the Israeli army and witnessed first hand how many wounded soldiers became dependent on pain killing drugs leading to narcotic addiction.

Traditionally, opiate dependency has been treated as a psychological disorder. Society  told patients that they were “drug addicts” because they had an incurable personality disorder or a spiritual deficiency.  We believe that opiate dependence is chemical imbalance in the brain that requires medical treatment.

Question:  How does rapid detox work?

Our method of rapid detox is only performed in an Intensive Care Unit in a accredited full service hospital.  For each patient we develop a detoxification plan.  The patient is admitted to the hospital 24 to 48 hours before the procedure.  Once the procedure is complete,  the patient is kept in the ICU for another 24 hours.  Our fully trained staff continuously monitors  the patient to ensure heart rate, blood pressure and other physical changes remain at a healthy and expected level.

The procedure itself is only performed by Board Certified Anesthesiologists in the intensive care unit of an accredited hospital. Currently the procedure is only performed at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach  a full-service teaching hospital.

Question:  What makes rapid detox a better choice for opiate addiction than a traditional detox program?

We believe that this procedure is far more humane. Conventional detoxification procedures require the patient to suffer through a debilitating and painful withdrawal. Success rates for traditional detox programs are quite low. One year following detoxification, the vast majority of patients have relapsed.

Another problem is that traditional treatments often are opiate-replacement therapies. Many use Methadone which is itself a synthetic narcotic. Withdrawal from methadone is slow. As a result many patients require continuous treatment, sometimes over a period of years. We believe that this is simply substituting one addiction for another.

Question:  You call the Waismann Method rapid detox. How quickly does it work?

A person addicted to opiods damage the very basic and delicate system of natural balance of narcotic-like substances produced by our own brain. Those substances regulates our pain, our fluid, our sleeping patterns, blood pressure and other important functions  The normal withdrawal syndrome can last 3 to 4 weeks.

Our procedure induces a sedated state and speeds up the withdrawal in a matter of hours, pushing all the opiates out of the brain with a blocking agent called an antagonist. Patients are able to get through a withdrawal successfully while sedated, without unnecessary suffering. This is why the procedure must be done by a qualified anesthesiologist in an appropriate hospital setting.

Question:   You mentioned that the success rate for most detox program is very low. What is the success rate for person undergoing your procedure?

I believe the success rate of most programs is in the 15 -20% range. Over the last 11 years,  our success rate is about 75%.

Question:   With such a high success rate why wouldn’t everyone use your system?

It is expensive and not covered by insurance.  Insurance companies prefer to treat patients with methods that keep patients in treatment and on medications for years. Our method, despite being around for 11 years in this country and over 25 years world wide is still called “experimental.” and so it is not covered by insurance.

Question:  I have heard that there have been some very negative reports about the dangers of rapid detox and even the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2005 reported that rapid detox offers no benefits over other detox programs and can even be dangerous.

Our program is unique and the only one in this country and the only one that follows the Waismann Method. There  have been cases where doctors not trained in this method have tried to perform a procedure similar to ours under anesthesia and patients have died.

Some doctors in the US have tried this procedure in surgery centers or even offices in order to save on costs. Consequently safety standards are ignored as well, compromising results and  the well being of patients.

We were trained by Dr. Waismann and have perfected our procedures for the last 11 years.  We have more than a decade of successful treatments on thousands of patients.

Question:  Dr. Lowenstein, what are your qualifications to perform this procedure?

I received my medical training at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. I am a Board Certified Anesthesiologist and also certified in Pain Medicine.  In 2009, I became a Diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine.

Question:  If someone wants to find out more about your treatment methods, where can they go?

We do have a website which explains our procedures and gives prospective patients a great deal of information on the procedure including follow-up requirements. There is also a toll free number they may call to get additional information.

Conclusion: Thank you, Dr. Lowenstein,  for your time.