Don't make too merry this holiday season

With the holiday season firmly upon us, host Jean Fisher Brinkley talks with NCMB's Chief Investigative Officer, Pat Berckmiller about the worrying trend the Board has seen around this time of year and the marked increase in licensee arrests for DWI, most of which are alcohol related.

Please Note: We’ll be taking a two-month hiatus to recharge and recalibrate for the coming year, with our first episode of 2025 slated for March. Happy Holidays from the North Carolina Medical Board!

Host: Jean Fisher Brinkley, Communications Director, North Carolina Medical Board
Guest: Pat Berckmiller, Chief Investigative Officer, North Carolina Medical Board
Producer: Sylvia French-Hodges, Communications Specialist, North Carolina Medical Board

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Email your questions to: podcast@ncmedboard.org.

Transcript

Episode 44 – Don’t make too merry this holiday season

Intro music: 0:00 

Podcast introduction: 0:10

Hello and welcome to the final MedBoard Matters episode of 2024. This is Jean Fisher Brinkley, Communications Director for the North Carolina Medical Board. Thank you for listening. We are finishing off the year with a somewhat nontraditional holiday message, inspired by a worrying trend. In the last few months of the year NCMB typically sees a marked increase in licensee arrests for DWI, most of which are alcohol related. Clearly, some licensees are celebrating the season a little too much. Why does the medical board monitor this? Well, first and foremost, patient safety. NCMB has an obligation to ensure that any licensee who is arrested for DWI is safe to practice medicine. Further, the Board does not want to see licensees make poor choices, like drinking and driving. If you are arrested it can result in regulatory action or worse, harm to innocent citizens. And if a licensee is dealing with a bona fide substance use disorder rather than just an excess of holiday cheer, it’s really better for everyone the earlier it’s discovered and the sooner that licensee gets help. I was able to catch NCMB’s Chief Investigative Officer, Pat Berckmiller, for a conversation about the data the Board has on holiday DWIs and what licensees should do to keep from becoming part of this grim annual trend. 

Interview with Pat Berckmiller: 1:40
JFB: Welcome back to Med Board Matters. Thank you so much for joining me.  

PB: Thanks, Jean. Good to be here.  

JFB: Every year for the last several years, you have come to me and asked if I would place an announcement or a notice in our licensee newsletter, cautioning our licensees to be careful with their alcohol consumption during the holiday season. That's always made perfect sense to me. Obviously, there's a lot of holiday parties, a lot of holiday events, lots of opportunities to overindulge. But I understand that you actually have some pretty compelling data behind your annual request, and I wondered if you could share that information about DUIs.  

PB: Sure, Jean, and thank you for getting the message out. I really do appreciate that. One of the staggering statistics that we have about our licenses, our DWI arrests over the last several years seem to proportionately occur more so in the last two months of the year. So in November and December, it actually accounts for between 33 and 35% of all of our licenses that are arrested for DWI. That's when they're occurring.  

JFB: Wow. So, a third or more in the last two months of the year for all DUIs that we see in a year.  

PB: That's correct.  

JFB: Well, when did you start picking up on that? 

PB: I would say in 2022 is when it started to surface the most. Looking at right around that Halloween time. And then I started drilling down and looking at, you know, the month of November and then looking at December separately and then looking at, you know, those annual statistics and realizing that we were just disproportionately much higher in those last two months. And it's been consistent for the last 3 or 4 years now.  

JFB: Okay. Could you explain how NCMB finds out about licensee DUIs? How do we know about them?  

PB: Well, first our licensees are required by law to self-report any DWI arrest to the North Carolina Medical Board in the first 30 days after the incident. And that's required under General Statute 90-16. So a lot of times, this is how we would find out through that self-reporting mechanism. We also find out from employers. We also find out through friends and coworkers who are aware of the arrest. And since they're aware of the reporting requirement, oftentimes they'll actually report it to the medical board. And then we also have a law enforcement sources. On occasion, when a licensee is arrested, they will identify him or herself as a licensee of the board. And sometimes we will find out through law enforcement.  

JFB: Okay. So, can you talk about the kinds of incidents that you typically see with these DUI arrests?  

PB: Sure. I wish I could report that all of them were as a result of a checkpoint. And they were tested a checkpoint and nothing else happened. But unfortunately, a great number of our DWI arrests are a result of serious crashes that have occurred sometimes with personal injuries to our actual licensees, as well as to other innocent individuals involved in that crash. The incidents oftentimes involve significant property damage. We've had a number of overturned vehicles as a result of those crashes as well. 

JFB: So not just minor fender benders and as you said, traffic stops. So you've touched on with your comments on another really important reason that our licensees should be extremely careful when they're consuming alcohol. Drinking and driving, of course, puts innocent people in danger. And it is against the ethics of the medical profession to recklessly endanger others. So what do the licensees who've been arrested for DUI say when they're interviewed by a board investigator? How do they explain themselves?  

PB: Typically, when our board investigators connect those interviews, the response is very similar to anyone who's been arrested for DWI in that they all say that they…they felt fine, did not feel that they were impaired to the point where they could not safely operate a motor vehicle.  

JFB: Yeah. So that I think you made a really important point. I think most people are probably not great at gauging how effective they are after drinking. What are some ways to correct for this? What should licensees who consume alcohol do to avoid making that bad decision to get behind the wheel?  

PB: I think one of the first things to think about is don't wait until you're impaired to make that decision. Have a plan in place before that evening begins. Whether it's a designated driver or utilization of a rideshare service, but just having a plan of how to get home so that you're not put in that position of making a poor decision while you're impaired.  

JFB: Right. So, thinking about the next question I want to ask you, I'm conscious of the fact that we're talking to kind of a mixed audience. There are people out there who are just going out, having a good time, going to a holiday party, relaxing, enjoying a cocktail or two. And then there may also be people who are doing the same thing, but they have an underlying alcohol use disorder. Because of that, when we do put that annual holiday message in our newsletter, we always include information about how to contact the North Carolina Professionals Health Program, which, as you know, provides free consultations, free initial consultations to licenses. They're available 24/7. And we do that, of course, because we want to encourage licensees who are struggling and who may be drinking to the point where they need help, have a way to reach out and ask for that assistance. Would you like to say a little bit more about what NCPHP offers to our licensees?  

PB: Sure. The North Carolina Professionals Health Program is available to our licensees, as you said, Jean, with free consultation. And if you find yourself with a substance use disorder or even suspect one, our licensees can go to NCPHP anonymously and be assessed. And if there is additional recommendations or they need additional resources, NCPHP can provide all of that. They can be contacted at (919) 870-4480, and their email address is info@ncphp.org. And again, I'd like to reiterate that just going to NCPHP, you can remain anonymous to get the help that you need with any substance use disorder. 

JFB: And I think that's really important to highlight because given that we've been talking about how individuals are not always the most reliable sources of insight into their own drinking behavior and whether or not it's a problem, I think it's important for licensees to look out for each other. As we're talking, I'm thinking of a recent conversation we had on the podcast with Dr.  Joe Jordan, who is CEO of the North Carolina Professionals Health Program. He was talking about the importance of licensees checking in on their friends and colleagues speaking up if they see someone who's acting off asking, are you okay? Do you need help? And it strikes me that that's appropriate in the context of our conversation as well, because we really can't rely on individuals to know if they do have a problem. So also important for those friends and colleagues to know that you can suggest someone get in touch with PHP or help them get in touch with PHP and know that you're not outing them to the medical board in so doing. So hopefully that is a pretty low risk thing to do for a friend that you care about and that you see going down the difficult path. Is there anything else that you would like to say, Pat, before we end our conversation?  

PB: I think the only other thing to mention, Jean, is that if you find yourself being arrested for a DWI, we ask that our licensees self-report to us don't wait for registration renewal. Let us know you know as soon as that happens. And again, if you find yourself, you know, potentially down that path that that you think you have a problem with alcohol or need assistance to please reach out to NCPHP and take advantage of their wonderful resources. 

JFB: Well, thank you so much for that, and thank you for spending the time talking about this important issue. I really appreciate it.  

PB: Thanks, Jean. 

Episode closing: 9:25

Well, that brings us to the end of this episode of MedBoard Matters. Thank you for joining me. 

From the heart, NCMB wishes a peaceful, safe, and joyful holiday to all. If the holidays are not a happy time for you, or if you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues or alcohol or substance-use disorder, consider checking in with the North Carolina Professionals Health Program. Licensed physicians and PAs can reach a trained counselor 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling (919) 870-4480 or toll free at (800) 783-6792. Head over to our podcast show page at www.ncmedboard.org/podcast for links and resources. As always, you can send comments, questions or suggestions for future episodes to us at podcast@ncmedboard.org. We are currently planning for 2025. Before I sign off, I want to personally thank our regular listeners for coming back time and again. It means a lot to know that we aren’t just shouting into the void. We’ll be taking a two-month hiatus to recharge and recalibrate for the coming year, with our first episode of 2025 slated for March. I hope you will join us for another amazing year.