This has all been quite enlightening. I have boiled my thoughts down to exactly two cents. Cent#1: Whether or not genetic pre-disposition towards addiction exists, humans are susceptible to addiction because we have neurological receptors for chemicals that make us feel good. Cent#2: Whatever the cause for the addiction, the only way out is for the person to acknowledge the problem and subsequently put in the legwork towards recovery.

I started reading this thread because I thought my boss might be having a problem. I was with the practice for about 4 years. Boss’s father passed away January 2010 and I was filling in for him a lot for a few months afterwards, no surprise there. When he returned to work, it wasn’t regular. He would call the day before (on a day he was off) and have the receptionist cancel his patients for the next day. If he did come in, it was ALWAYS an hour or two late. He would call and ask me to see his patients–>me seeing twice as many patients –>running behind –> angry patients. At first I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but after a few months I stopped squeezing his patients into my schedule, because 1)it wasn’t fair to my patients who came in on time and 2) it was just enabling him to continue to come in late.

He cut my hours and hired another associate (I wasn’t under contract). It was actually a relief because he kept me on days when I was there alone. The poor new associate got the burden of squeezing in Boss’s morning patients. Then I kept hearing remarks from the staff. Boss making requests and 2 days later forgetting that he made them, and taking it out on whomever was trying to incorporate said request. Being in a really sour mood. Trying to skim prescription painkillers from a staff member (who actually needed them).

I suspected an addiction/alcohol problem and I put in my notice right before this thread started. While reading anecdotes and clicking on links, it became pretty obvious. So now the question is…do I intervene? I already quit, so job security isn’t an issue. Our relationship is pretty professional and we hardly ever talk about personal stuff, so is it weird? I’ll need him as a work reference and would this cause negativity? He’s really a good doctor and [was] a nice person and I loved working there until last year. I feel like I should do something but I don’t know what is appropriate.