Dr. Paul Silcox

I am Dr. Paul Silcox of Fremont, Ohio. I’m sure this story will sound like others you have heard. It tells of how I changed from a passive parent observer to an active advocate to help educate parents and youth about the perils being uninformed about this deadly topic can have, and I actually have a message of hope for many.

My family and I have experienced firsthand the devastation of the Opioid Epidemic. Prior to November 12, 2016, the topic of addiction was something that I couldn’t relate to very much. After all, I had spent the first 38 years of my professional life as a chiropractor (and since 2012 using acupuncture) working with patients trying to alleviate pain and prevent them from having to resort to surgery or strong drugs with a potentially addictive nature to them.

In 2011, my son had all 4 of his wisdom teeth pulled and his dentist prescribed 30 Percocet’s for pain. He was in college and wasn’t living with me or his mother at the time, but from what I understand, there came a marked difference in him. I didn’t see him except mostly at holidays or when he needed a chiropractic adjustment, or occasionally $20 here or there. But in mid 2016, that changed and he was asking for money more frequently after a roommate left rather abruptly. When I asked him about it in late August, that was the first time I heard the word heroin from him. I knew absolutely nothing about it but I knew it was dangerous and I was scared.

A few weeks later, he knew he had a problem and agreed to go to a detox/rehab program. He left in mid October and returned November 9, 2016. He looked great and because I knew nothing about the drug addiction world, I thought he was almost cured and about had this licked. We were ecstatic. Because of HIPAA, no one at the rehab facility said a word to warn us how fragile he was or susceptible to relapse, especially coming back to his home town. Five days after he returned he was supposed to start a medically assisted treatment program. But three days later, he was dead. I didn’t know I could help him.

Yes, I agree, he took the Percocet that the doctor prescribed for him after his wisdom teeth were pulled. But with what I know now, I am fully convinced that by the end of that prescription, he had crossed over the line and was hooked on them.

Now, in 2024, at the 46th year anniversary of my graduation from chiropractic school, I feel I’ve earned a rest. The word “retirement” has a new meaning and attraction to it.  However, the fact that the death rates in the US and in Ohio for 2023 are increasing again, it has renewed my batteries to keep working. Especially knowing that my own son was one of those that died after he realized how deep he was in and that he was making great strides to get clean and sober, but still lost, makes it hurt even worse.

A year after my son died, I’ve learned skills and developed them to work with addicts through the path to sobriety with a treatment that is known simply as NADA (which is Spanish for “nothing”).  NADA is an acronym for the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association and is an acupuncture treatment program that has been in existence since 1974 during the height of the cocaine and heroin addiction crisis in New York City. NADA is currently practiced around the world for addictions, but also to help people in extreme mental stress and anxiety in times of crisis as in New York City on 9/11, Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita and numerous others.

In Ohio, there are only 85 people that are trained in the NADA protocol. In Michigan, with 1.5 million people less population than Ohio, there are almost 1,100 NADA trained practitioners. My goal is to remove barriers to train people that are actively involved in the addictions and behavioral health fields with the acupuncture skills that have been shown to effectively help these populations, and to improve access to receive these services and remove barriers to deliver those services.

I have personally delivered this treatment to several patients. One is clean and sober for 7 years, another for 4 years. I have also been using this on many Veterans to help with PTSD issues, and am now beginning to work with VFW Auxiliary’s to help with the stress that many veterans wives have as a result of what their husbands experience as a result of the stress of service to our country. It is awesome work.