Category: Practice News

Make It Four

The 77th (!!) edition of Conn’s Current Therapy is now in print and with it my chapter on alcohol use disorder.1 I’ve been the chapter author since 2022.

I’m eternally grateful to my old partner, Tim Scanlan, M.D., for passing my name along to the editorial team at Elsevier. I also want to thank my editors, Rick Kellerman, M.D., and Kevin Travers.

This year’s chapter contains a new section on withdrawal management. There’s also an update related to the newish edition of The ASAM Criteria.

I’ve been invited back for 2026. For the past few years, I’ve been pondering whether risks related to alcohol truly “start from the first drop.” The Surgeon General’s recent cancer advisory probably requires me to finally wade into this controversy. ✸

  1. Page 865ff.

Broken Open

Yes, I’m the David Frenz featured in the book Broken Open and related media.

Bookshelf in a Barnes & Noble in Minneapolis, Minn.


I’m accepting new patients at Osceola Medical Center. Please call 715-294-1921 to discuss your needs and circumstances with Jaiden or Elizabeth. ✸

Postscript: Here’s a growing list of interviews and stories that add texture to the story told in the book.

Postscript. Please read the book from the beginning! But, if you really need to know, I first appear at the end of Chapter 8 in this clever passage:

Finally, Gief sighed. "You need to go see Frenz," he said.

I had no idea what he was saying. What friends did he know that I had who could help me figure this out?

"Friends?" I asked. "Who do you mean?"

"Frenz," he said, "with a zee. Dr. David Frenz.

Three-Peat

It’s that time of year when heavy boxes (nine pounds) arrive with the fruits of last season’s labor. The 76th (!!) edition of Conn’s Current Therapy is now in print, and with it my chapter on alcohol use disorder.1 I’ve been the chapter author since 2022.

Many thanks to my old partner, Tim Scanlan, M.D., for passing my name along to the editorial team at Elsevier. And also to my editors Rick Kellerman, M.D., and Kevin Travers.

I’ve been invited back for 2025. I plan to add a section on ambulatory withdrawal management.2 I’ve also been mulling over whether risks related to alcohol truly “start from the first drop.”3 Finally, the updated edition of The ASAM Criteria, which appeared in late 2023, likely requires brief mention. ✸

  1. Page 841ff ↩︎
  2. J Addict Med 2020;14(3S Suppl 1):1-72 (PMID: 32511109) ↩︎
  3. World Health Organization ↩︎

Just Me Again

I had the privilege of authoring the chapter on Alcohol Use Disorder in Conn’s Current Therapy 2023, the venerable textbook that has now been through 75 (!!) annual editions. With a little luck, you should be able read it via Google Books (Section 10: Psychiatric Disorders, Page 823).

As promised last year, I included some important new-ish research on non-abstinent recovery (“progress, not perfection”) in the 2023 edition. I also added a section on motivational enhancement therapy (a/k/a motivational interviewing) and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), which can be conducted during brief sessions like office visits in primary care.

I’ve been asked to return for the 2024 edition. If space permits, I may include a section on ambulatory medically managed withdrawal (“detoxification”), which is feasible for many patients.

Many thanks to Rick Kellerman, M.D., for involving me in this most rewarding project! ✸

Postscript [03/03/2023]. It’s always fun to receive the physical copy in the mail. The book weighs in at around 9 pounds per the label on the box in which it arrived.

Top Doc 2022, and Some History

I’ve been practicing addiction medicine since 2005. A lot has happened between then and now, including regional recognition of our specialty by Minnesota Monthly in 2014.

“Top Doctors” Issue: 2014, left; 2022, right.

You can trace the history of the specialty back to at least 1954. That’s when the New York City Medical Society on Alcoholism, progenitor of the eventual American Society of Addiction (ASAM) formed. In 1983, it began awarding a certificate of added qualification (CAQ), which was still available when I entered the profession. My certificate—December 6th, 2008—is probably from the final CAQ cohort.

The American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM), an independent medical board, formed in 2007. I was a member of its inaugural class in 2009. This eventually gave way to the American Board of Preventative Medicine (ABPM), of which addiction medicine has been a subspecialty since 2018.

I was surprised when Minnesota Monthly notified me that I was going be included in its 2014 “Top Doctors” issue. The letter didn’t indicate which specialty, so I e-mailed the publisher. They replied, “You have been nominated in the field of Addiction Medicine.” This was a new category. Our specialty had finally achieved mainstream recognition—grocery stores, gas stations, home mailboxes!

Five of us were listed in 2014. The number has grown over time and this year includes 17 addiction medicine physicians.

Mpls.St.Paul Magazine publishes a competing list. I hope that it discovers addiction medicine before I retire. I’m only 52, so there’s still lots of time. ✸

___
Postscript. We intentionally run a very small practice—it’s just my longtime assistant, Kris Jamieson, and me. She’s the one answering the phone and e-mails, chasing down labs results and medical records, calling pharmacies, completing prior authorizations, and offering constant encouragement to patients (they tell me “I love Kris” and “Kris is great” all the time). Behind every top doctor there’s a top assistant. This recognition is just as much hers.

The 700 Club

As a preacher’s kid, I just couldn’t resist the pun!

June 30th marked my 700th day of Musing. Many thanks to InteraXon for bringing this amazing technology to consumers.

For more on my Muse journey, please see here and here. Please also see this video beginning at around 26:00.

I’m planning to lead some meditation retreats in 2022 (Covid got in the way the past two years). Each attendee will receive a Muse S and meditation instruction over the course of a weekend. More to come after I work out the details. ✸

Addictive Substances WYNTK

Way back in August, we filmed the tenth and final installment of Hazelden Publishing’s What You Need to Know (WYNTK) Series. Our set was at the beautiful Westminster Presbyterian Church in Downtown Minneapolis.

That installment, Addictive Substances, is now out — or, as my kids would say, it “dropped.” Wes Thomsen, the senior producer, generously gave me permission to post a segment here.

I appear at 1:50
Copyright © Hazelden Publishing. Used with permission

Many thanks to Wes Thomsen, Sylvia Jaurez, Brad Hadsall, Chris Dougherty and Jennilee Park for conceiving and producing the series. I’m looking forward to ongoing adventures! ✸

Author! Author!

I had the great honor of authoring the chapter on Alcohol Use Disorder in Conn’s Current Therapy 2022, the venerable textbook that has been through 74 (!!) annual editions. With a little luck, you should be able read it via Google Books (Psychiatric Disorders, Page 803).

I’ve been asked to return for the 2023 edition. I plan to include some important new research on non-abstinent recovery (“progress, not perfection”). I’ll also be adding a section on how to actually deliver motivational enhancement therapy (a/k/a motivational interviewing) and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) during brief sessions like office visits in primary care.

Many thanks to Rick Kellerman, M.D., for involving me in this most rewarding project! ✸