DOCTOR FEELGOOD –

March 14, 2023 – In his early years as a primary care doctor in Boston, addiction devoured Grinspoon’s practice and his life. He snorted oxycodone in his office, wrote fraudulent prescriptions for his wife and their children’s nanny, and colluded with patients to share medications. He has no memory of the overdose he suffered, and yet he’ll never forget it.

Massachusetts Physician Health Services, which supports doctors and medical students fighting substance abuse disorders and other mental health issues, helped Grinspoon get his life and career back on track, and then hired him to do the same for his peers.

The experience of addiction humbled Grinspoon and made him a more compassionate physician in general, but especially when dealing with people afflicted in the same way. To his surprise, most patients are supportive when they learn of his past. Some are grateful to have a doctor with such intimate knowledge of nearly losing everything. “I’m not looking down upon them or judging them,” he said. “I’ve been there. I have walked in their shoes.”

It’s an attitude that has opened eyes and hearts in the profession, according to Laura Kehoe, a physician and Harvard Medical School assistant professor who has known Grinspoon for decades. “Peter has helped to destigmatize and demystify addiction by having the strength to speak about his experience,” she said.

Click@Harvard