Fast recoveries are the focus for the Waismann Institute’s rapid detox program. Opiate dependency has risen dramatically in the last several years due to an increase in addiction to prescription painkillers. The Waismann program helps patients kick dependency through a three-day treatment process, submitted in a hospital setting.
“These are patients, they’re not drug addicts,” says the institutes co-medical director, Clifford Bernstein.
On the second day of their stay, patients are put under anesthesia for three hours, during which time their bodies undergo withdrawal. Receptors are blocked with a dummy drug, shutting off cravings for the opiate. And when they wake up? “They’re not addicted to the medication anymore. They go from point A to point B in just a few hours,” Bernstein says. Statistics on the success rate of the treatment are five times that of the national average for traditional rehab programs.
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