From Harvard to Hell…and Back: A Doctor’s Journey through Addiction to Recovery

Dr. Sylvester “Skip” Sviokla lived life as a successful, driven, athletic and brilliant graduate of Harvard Medical School, reveling in wealth and glamour until addiction brought his life crashing down. This real-life “Dr. House” had it all (he thought) – until addiction took everything – including his medical license. At one point “Dr. Skip,” whose patients had included Hollywood celebrities, was taking 150 pills of Vicodin a day and using other people’s names on scripts he’d write. In addition, he was drinking heavily. Eventually he was no longer taking Vicodin to get high but instead to stave off the massive pain of opioid withdrawal. After many years of battling bureaucracy in California, Dr. Skip moved to Rhode Island where the medical board reinstated his license. Wanting to give back, Dr. Skip now works in the addiction medicine field. In this episode of Break the Chains, Dr. Skip will discuss his journey, which is detailed in his new book: From Harvard to Hell…And Back, available on Amazon.

Learn more about Dr. Sviokla at: medicalassistedrecoveryinc.com