This is another sad story about how addiction ruins careers, reputations, and lives. Carlisle, PA anesthesiologist Gregory Theodore was found to have overdosed on Demerol while working at Carlisle Regional Medical Center.
His surgeon was trying to find him when wasn't answering his page. He went to the bathroom and could hear the beeper going off behind a stall door. When he managed to get the door open, he found the anesthesiologist unconscious on the seat with a syringe in his lap. When awakened, Dr. Theodore claimed he didn't feel well and had given himself some Zofran. However when he was sent down to the ER, he told the emergency physician that he had been taking Demerol for several years.
He is being charged by the Attorney General with administration of a controlled substance, acquiring a controlled substance, refusal to keep records of controlled substance, theft by unlawful taking, and possession of drugs with intent to manufacture or deliver. Dr. Theodore, your life is now totally f****d up. I hope you get the treatments you need, and a very good lawyer, to turn your life around. His formal arraignment is scheduled for July 21st.
As thousands of medical students graduate shortly and start their residencies, remember that no amount of stress is worth starting an addiction for. It may make you feel better for a very short period of time, but eventually it will completely devastate your life.
Wishing Dr. Theodore the very best. Nitrous/Narcotic anesthesia using Demerol was very common in the late 1960's. I remember old time docs telling stories about how Demerol initially was developed as a safe local anesthetic.
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