Pathway Healthcare Local center helps patients caught in opioid epidemic

The staff of Pathway Healthcare stands on the forefront in the battle against the opioid epidemic in North Alabama communities. The local center is a primary care clinic for people who suffer from addiction and chemical dependence.

“The pain of addiction and chemical dependence can be treated,” Dr. Brett Boyett said.

Boyett is executive medical director and founder of Pathway Healthcare, and he sees patients in Madison. Andrew Turner is office manager in Madison. Scott Olson of Dallas, Texas, is Pathway Healthcare CEO.

Boyett cited a 2011 World Health Organization report stating the United States has about 4.5 percent of the world’s population yet consumes about 80 percent of the world’s opioid pain relievers. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control in 2013 stated that Alabama ranks No. 1 of all 50 states for pain pill abuse per capita. Tennessee ranks second.

“This puts North Alabama in the epicenter for the prescription pain pill abuse epidemic for the whole world,” Boyett said. One critical component is the lack of training for doctors and healthcare workers to diagnose addiction.

“‘Chronic pain’ has become the politically correct diagnosis to describe ‘opioid dependence,'” Boyett said. “The word addiction conjures up images of a villain; the term chronic pain allows the patient to be a victim. Addiction is … usually a situation of a good person with a bad problem.”

When he worked in primary care and emergency medicine, Boyett began to see some patients that nurses called “frequent fliers” or “seekers.” These patients visited doctors and emergency rooms complaining of pain and seeking opioids.

“Emotional volatility was common; patients would often present with humble cries for help but then quickly shift to an emotion of anger and hostility. The emergency medical personnel called this ‘drug drama,'” he said. In 2012, Boyett attained board certification in Addiction Medicine. “Help is available – people just need to know where to find it,” Boyett said.

Pathway Healthcare provides various treatment options for substance abuse disorders and chemical dependencies. “We treat alcohol abuse and tobacco abuse with medication and counseling,” Boyett said. “Several therapies work quite well in the hands of a well-trained addiction specialist and with a motivated patient.”

One treatment option is Vivitrol, an opioid blocker that stops the reward (pleasure) from opioids and alcohol. Pathway also treats opioid dependency with Buprenorphine/Naloxone medications, such as Suboxone, Zubsolv or Bunavail. “These dual-therapy medications treat the chronic pain of dependence, while blocking opioids’ pleasurable effect,” he said. “Over time, we typically see our patients restore their damaged relationships, get jobs, raises and promotions. They become better parents, husbands and wives and generally feel better about their lives. Patients will commonly say, ‘I feel normal again.’ This is the goal of the treatment.”

Boyett grew up in Sulligent, a town of about 3,000 in west Alabama. “My oldest brother developed a heart condition that required him to go on the heart transplant list at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. My inability to fully understand my brother’s situation was a helpless feeling to me,” he said. “My brother died while on the heart transplant waiting list. I never wanted to feel that helpless again. I wanted to understand the science of health and disease and the healthcare system.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree at Birmingham-Southern College, Boyett graduated from the UAB School of Dentistry in 1994. He then earned a medical degree from the University of Health Science College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, Mo., in 1998.

Boyett has worked in family medicine and general dentistry in Hamilton and in emergency rooms in Corinth and Amory, Miss. and Red Bay, Hamilton and Winfield. He chose to practice in Madison because his brother Dr. Patrick Boyett and former partner Dr. Jason Hatfield work in the Athens area.

His wife Sandra Boyett is a certified registered nurse anesthetist. The Boyetts have twins, son Zachary and daughter Austin.

For more information, call 256-325-1598, email info@pathwayhealthcare.com or visit pathwayhealthcare.com or Facebook/pathwaycenters.