Dr. Robert Ben Mitchell, D.O., has been licensed to practice osteopathic medicine in Florida since 1998.   During that time he has focused on emerging medical markets including house-call medicine, chronic physical pain management, and addiction medicine.

He is a published medical author (see the Publications link below) and has lectured to both medical students and licensed physicians.   He most recently spoke about opioid dependence and prescription drug related death rates at the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association's annual convention on February 19th, 2010, in Weston, Florida.   See PDF file copies of his convention presentation LECTURE SLIDES (75 kilobytes - 36 pages) and Florida Department of Law Enforcement's statistics for 2003 to 2008 DRUG DEATHS (3342 kilobytes - 13 pages).

Dr. Mitchell has also tried to stop the pain medication "pill mill" epidemic that has been evolving in Florida over the past decade.   Twice he has submitted emergency rule proposals to his medical board - the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine - and both times the board has chosen to not act on his suggested rule proposals.   See PDF file copies of his proposed 2005 EMERGENCY RULE (33 kilobytes - 6 pages) and 2010 EMERGENCY RULE (63 kilobytes - 4 pages).

On February 28, 2010, Dr. Mitchell submitted comments to the American Psychiatric Association's Substance Abuse Work Group regarding the pending DSM-5 psychiatric diagnostic manual.   He recommended the addition of two conditions: pseudo-addiction from the under-prescribing of medically necessary medications, and pseudo-addiction from the over-prescribing of medically necessary medications.   Dr. Mitchell suffered from the former of these two conditions himself in the 1980's after an accident where he fractured the spinal column in his neck (see the Experience link below), and he now treats many people who suffer from both of these conditions.   See a PDF file copy of his comments on DSM-5 PSEUDO-ADDICTION (35 kilobytes - 2 pages).

On March 9, 2010, Dr. Mitchell mailed an application to the Governor of Florida requesting that he be appointed to the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine.   He made this request due to the ineffectual manner in which the board has dealt with drug-dealing physicians in our state during the past decade.   He is awaiting a response.   If you would like to support Dr. Mitchell's appointment to the Florida Osteopathic Medical Board, call the Governor's Appointment Office at 850-488-2183.   See a PDF file copy of his LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR (43 kilobytes - 1 page).

Currently, Dr. Mitchell runs one of the largest SAMHSA/CSAT certified Opioid Based Office Treatment programs in Florida where he uses Suboxone, Subutex and their generic buprenorphine equivalents to help those who are addicted to opioids (pain medications and heroin).   In addition, Dr. Mitchell has pioneered a new treatment program to help people who are addicted to alprazolam (Xanax).

Click on any of these topics below for further information:

      Publications
      (webpage)

      Experience
      (webpage)

      Suboxone/Subutex
      (webpage)

      Xanax Wean
      (webpage)

      Fees
      (webpage)

      Contact
      (webpage)

2. BOOKS