Dr. Kevin McCauley is a non-practicing physician who has worked in the field of addiction treatment for nearly two decades. Kevin first became   interested in the treatment of substance use disorders while serving as a Naval Flight Surgeon for Marine Corps heavy-lift helicopter and fighter/attack squadrons. Due to the Navy’s policy toward treating such disorders as a safety (rather than moral) issue, he witnessed pilots self-report their addiction since they knew they would be treated medically and, once safe to do so, returned to flying status under careful monitoring. “These were charismatic and otherwise highly-capable, self-disciplined pilots who did come forward and ask for help – and they all got better and went back to flying! That just destroyed the prejudice I had picked up in medical school that addicts never ask for help and once an addict, always an addict.”

Unfortunately, the Navy did not have a similar policy for other kinds of addiction, and when he found himself addicted to opioid pain medications following a surgical procedure he was imprisoned by the Marine Corps in solitary confinement, court-martialed, and transferred to the U.S Army’s maximum-security prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Once released, the Navy paid for Kevin’s treatment, for which he will always be grateful.

In 2014, Kevin married his ninth-grade sweetheart, Kristine. They currently live with her son Ethan in Arizona, where Kris teaches fourth grade at the Desert Star Waldorf School. Kevin hopes eventually to resume his medical training and return to the practice of medicine.