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CITA currently has four clinics in the U.S., all of which are affiliated with major hospitals, and charges $6,800 per treatment. But it is not the only game in town. Storefront clinics, using variations of CITA's patented procedure, have sprung up across the nation, and a California entrepreneur is selling franchises for at-home detox centers for $1,000 apiece.
It is these treatment boutiques and the businessmen who are promoting them that have given rapid detox a bad name, says Dr. Ron Wender, head of anesthesiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Wender's experience at the CITA center at Cedars-Sinai has convinced him that ultrarapid detox, properly performed and with appropriate follow-up, "should be welcomed with open arms."
What prompted E.R.'s producers to air the ultrarapid detox drama? Critics point to an April article in the Wall Street Journal that detailed instances of TV shows being successfully lobbied by medical foundations and others to include dramatizations of specific diseases. In one example the Journal described how the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation wooed Dr. Neal Baer, an E.R. writer and producer, besieging him with studies on the increased risk of contracting AIDS for those with chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease--a risk that was then mentioned on E.R.
Baer denies that he was lobbied to put either chlamydia or rapid-detox on E.R. Chlamydia is a common problem and so, in Hollywood, is heroin addiction; one marquee actor is reported to have gone through ultrarapid detox just in time for this year's Academy Awards. In fact, says Baer, the idea for the detox episode came from a pediatric anesthesiologist invited by E.R. to help generate story lines.
That still leaves other questions on the minds of E.R. fans. Has Doug's impulsive act jeopardized his career? Is he still on staff? Is he still the sexiest man alive? Tune in next September.
--Reported by Edward Barnes/New York and Jeanne McDowell/Los Angeles