Addiction Medicine Institute
Addiction Medicine Institute (AMI) is a new 501c3 foundation whose term mission is to research and expedite the discovery of new scientific and technological innovations of valid treatments to improve addiction patient recovery outcomes.
Addiction is a complex Brain Disease not a moral weakness, lack of willpower or character defect and encompasses alcohol, drugs, tobacco, gambling, eating, sex and even exercise.
There are 40M diagnosed with addiction and another 80 risky Users
Current treatment regimens lack cutting edge science and technology with minimal evidence based support for their validity or reliability in successful treatment outcomes. Hence 60% relapse within 6 months. And this result has persisted since 1980. Addiction is a growing problem averaging 7% compound annual growth rate with 40 Million diagnosed with addiction in the US and another 80 Million risky users. This amounts to nearly 33% of Americans
Addiction kills more people ANNUALLY than were killed in the entire Vietnam War
Addiction causes other diseases which eventually causes death to addict and alcoholics. And the death certificate does not often list addiction but rather its medical consequence
This disease costs taxpayers in the United States an estimated $500 Billion annually due to accidental medical deaths, violence leading to injury or death, child and spousal abuse, car accidents, lawyers, accountants, and many other addiction related causes
Most of this money goes to the Judicial system not to treatment
Jail cells now “treat” many patients with addiction as well as any accompanying psychiatric disorder. With some unintended negative consequences
Despite great progress since the late 60’s more work needs to be directed to bringing cutting edge science into the treatment paradigm if addiction treatment is to progress as has cancer, heart disease and many other purely medical disorders of other organs in the body.
What is our plan?
AMI will to some extent follow the City of Hope model for cancer. This anticipates hard research in collaboration with a medical campus on the brain and other organs impacted by addiction. We will have a multidisciplinary medical panel which will create strategic alliances with biotech, medical device, neuroscience, genetic and Pharma companies seeking new and improved technologies to treat addicted patients. And eventually conduct clinical trials with selected treatment centers to gauge their effectiveness in improving patient treatment outcomes.