Dr. Baxter Represents BHOPB at White House Symposium
On September 18, 2015, Louis E. Baxter, Sr., M.D., Consulting Medical Director at Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches, led a delegation of experts at the White House Symposium on addiction medicine’s response to the opiate epidemic in America. The symposium was hosted by White House Drug Czar, Michael Botticelli, and was titled, “Medicine Responds to Addiction.”
The purpose of the event was to help accelerate and enhance the process of educating medical professionals about substance abuse prevention and effective addiction treatment strategies. Multiple speakers expounded at length about the importance of integrating addiction medication into all phases of drug abuse and addiction, including prevention, treatment and recovery.
Dr. Baxter spoke about the importance of addiction medicine fellowship training programs and the need to train practicing physicians about addiction identification and treatment including medication-assisted therapy (MAT). Dr. Baxter is the current Director of the American Board of Addiction Medicine and has been a leading authority on addiction care, substance abuse and innovative rehabilitation techniques for over 30 years.
More About the White House Symposium
The symposium was sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM). Officials from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), National Institute of Health (NIH), Surgeon General’s Office and other stakeholders were in attendance at the event.
Also present were representatives of three current and 17 prospective addiction medicine fellowship training programs from around the nation. The ABAM Foundation has been dedicated in its pursuit to increase awareness of the effectiveness of medication-assisted addiction treatment, with the creation of fellowship programs at 36 medical schools and teaching hospitals over the last seven years. Additionally, the American Board of Preventative Medicine (ABPM) has begun the process of adding addiction medication as a subspecialty of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).
These efforts are all significant, with over 20 million Americans struggling with the disease of addiction. In 2014, 22.5 million Americans needed treatment for a substance use disorder, and only 11.6 percent of them received treatment.
About Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches
Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches is a leading South Florida behavioral healthcare organization offering expert, compassionate, cutting-edge treatment to individuals suffering from drug alcohol addiction and mental disorder. Our full continuum of care includes professional intervention, onsite medical detox, innovative and specialized rehab, and aftercare.
Since our inception in 1997, we have become an industry leader in addiction care, featuring our own research department and some of the nation’s most accomplished doctors and mental health professionals. Our expertise in co-occurring disorders and philosophy of treating the whole patient has allowed us to produce some of the highest success rates in the country.
