One Patient, One Doctor, One Year

I'm back to recommend another book by a medical colleague who is also a good friend. Today sees the publication of The Addict, by Michael Stein. Michael is an internist specializing in the treatment of infectious disease, but his work with drug addicts displays the sensitivity and insight of the best psychotherapy. Most of The Addict concerns a year in Stein's treatment of a single patient, Lucy, whose attachment to the prescription pain-killer Vicodin, and to addiction itself, has pulled her from a middle-class life to a daily round of abuse and degradation. Better than any therapist writing today, Stein depicts how good doctors think in the course of intimate work with patients. You can find an excerpt and early review at Stein's website.