But the list doesn't stop with celebrities, Dr. Kern says. According to the recent National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (reported by ABC News 07/3/2007), 30.3 percent of the U.S. population engages in problem drinking, but only 24 percent of those suffering from alcohol dependency seek help, and only 7 percent seek treatment for alcohol abuse.

As one example of the standard approach not working, Lindsay Lohan was just arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and cocaine possession, just days after she completed her second stay in rehab, a 45-day program in a Malibu facility.

"We have a time warp in the practice of addiction medicine in this county," Dr. Kern says. "Would you put your life in the hands of someone who only has a 15% success rate?" (The AA retention rate is 5%, according to Alcoholics Anonymous World Services' own statistics).

He adds, "The root of why people aren't getting help is the shame, blame, intensity and religious overtones of the standard treatment, and physicians 'diseasing' the problem.

"The disease model is killing people, because it is stopping many people from getting the help they need, help that would really work for them.

"The disease model of addiction embraced by most of the medical community scares people. It sets up a false dichotomy: The 'disease' of alcoholism will progress and you will die -- or you must attend meetings for a lifetime. As if those are the only two options. But the 'disease' does not always progress, and what scientific approach recommends prayer to cure a disease? Or ignores a myriad of replicable effective alternatives?"

Dr. Kern notes that "People are not like tube socks - there is no 'one size fits all' in treating drug and alcohol problems.

See interview with Dr. Kern on the CBS tv news segment: "Lindsay's Relapse Raises Questions About Rehab."
http://www.cbs2.com/video/?id=44381@kcbs.dayport.com