Howard A. Heit, MD, FACP, FASAM, Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology/Hepatology, Diplomate in Addiction Medicine, Certified Medical Review Officer, Chronic Pain Specialist, Assistant Clinical Professor, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, explains iatrogenic addiction and how it manifests in practice.

The NIH defines iatrogenic addiction as an addiction that is inadvertently induced by a physician, medical treatment or diagnostic procedures.

Dr. Heit says that iatrogenic addiction can occur in a patient who has given an adequate and comprehensive history that is negative for drugs and alcohol, either in the patient themselves or the patient's family. A controlled substance could go through a certain pathway that causes the patient to lose control of the medication and become addicted to it.

Dr. Heit adds that the incidence of iatrogenic addiction is unknown but it is believed to be rare.

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