Family doctors in British Columbia are being urged to annually screen every patient starting at age 12 to prevent addiction to alcohol, a leading cause of social and economic harms.
The guideline developed by the BC Centre on Substance Use and endorsed by the province encourages primary-care doctors to provide treatment and ongoing care themselves unless a complicated addiction has taken hold.
Dr. Keith Ahamad, an addiction specialist at St. Paul’s Hospital who helped write the guideline, said most alcohol-related issues including withdrawal management can be treated by family physicians but patients needing help are often not identified or treated.
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