and the working guy is the one suspended. wherebying to the new america. wayne writes "the bus company needs to thank the driver for protecting the passengers." daniel is also waying in. keep the comments coming. we'll have more. tweet me@deb feyerickcnn. sanjay gupta is right now. americans are addicted to drugs, booze, or prescription medication more than ever before nur on history. it's an epidemic we can on no longer ignore. i'm not going to ignore it. if you are not the one in trouble, you can be sure it's a parent, a brother, sister, a friend, a co-worker. you may have seen the signs, and you are unsure what to do. well, today we're going to help you. this morning an in depth look at addiction. how to get help before it's too late. also, the very latest medicine that science has to offer us. we'll have all that in a second, but, first, news i want to share about the shortage of critically important cancer medicine. as a doctor, you never want to deny your patients any sort of treatment, but last year alone doctors here in the united states had to tell more than a

half a million cancer patients that one of those medicine was used to treat patients with ovarian cancer like this woman, i met her last november. >> you feel like you are in a fight with one hand tied behind your back. we said let's go with what we have and see what happens. the cancer rapidly recurred. >> this week, there's a temporary fix. the fda announced they will allow a replacement drug. it's virtually identical and imported from india. renee will likely be put on this medication. it doesn't solve the larger problem of the shortages. case and point, another trug in short supply is methotrexate. it's used for childhood cancers. they found an additional supplier and various companies agreed to increase production. a family said this may not solve their problems.

this 12 year seen there istake ing methotrexate. kelly is a surgeon who treats cancer patients. thanks for joining us. how are you feeling? how are you doing? >> i'm doing fine. >> you are okay? you were diagnosed with leukemia in 2011. the nurses at the hospital said to think about your one wish for the make a wish foundation. what did you wish for? >> for my make a wish, i decided to make my wish that all the children with this could get the methotrexate they need. >> it's powerful. a.l.l. is the form of leukemia you have as well, right in. >> yes. >> obviously you are making this wish because not enough kids have the medication. kelly, you are a doctor, a cancer doctor.

i mean, owen started an intense treatment. his next methotrexate treatment is friday. is it going to happen for him? >> there should be treatment for him this friday. the actions taken by the fda and the pharmaceutical companies will temporarily release the shortage and allow him to start his treatment on march 9th. >> i want to pick up on that. after this friday, after the next few weeks, what about the guarantee of methotrexate for owen and what about other kids that owen is wishing for? kelly? >> there's a band aid that's been put on the problem. victory has been declared. this problem is far from over. there are over 250 drugs in critical short supply. many cancer drugs for which there are no alternatives. it's effective for kids with leukemia and there's no substitute. this shortage could come up again and again and again. six months ago, it was a different drug essential for leukemia patients. we need to fix the problem. >> the problem, we have been

beating the drum on this. what is the alternative? i'm curious. say friday it wasn't available and the next time it's not available, are alternatives being given, kell y? >> there are no alternatives except to wait and delay the treatment until the drug becomes avaluable. >> it's not the right answer because you delay treatment, that's a problem. beth, my wife, would go crazy if she heard that sort of response. what did you think when you heard that response? >> owen and i were at the clinic

when he was getting a full day of a different therapy drug when his oncologist said we may not get to start the treatment. he explained there was a critical shortage and there would be none. i could not imagine that in the united states a doctor could be telling me that the medication that my son must have, he is newly in remission and must have because of recurrences of the risk, he may not have it. that was when the nurses were talking to him about make a wish. on the way home, owen said that needed to be his wish. that he needed to make sure that the drug companies, the government, whoever it was that was in control needed to make sure that all the children would have this medication because he knows how critical it is.

as a mother, i was devastated. >> i can't even imagine. i'm choked up. kelly, or beth, let me ask you first. do you have any confidence right now with the recent announcement by the fda of more supplies coming in. are you satisfied? do you think it's going to solve the shortage problem? >> i would like to think it would solve the shortage problem. i think owen will get this week's medication. i think he will probably get his first high dose on march 9th. now we know, this is a risk each and every time that he needs a dose of this. some of the other drugs that he gets. so far, the reason that they have done this is one of the companies has been able to release drugs they were holding, making me outraged there was

some drugs and the fda had not responded to a request for authorization by that company to make and distribute the drug. i'm not absolutely sure that we are going to be in the clear for this entire three and a half years. now it will be on my mind every month, every time we start something new, every time he needs methotrexate. >> every moment. >> yeah. >> kelly, i don't mean to put you on the spot, but can you explain how this is happening? why are drug being held? why isn't there a guarantee owen can get what he needs? >> this is a uniquely american problem. other countries, i have friends in argentina, ecuador and argentina get the drug for me. it's so inexpensive. the drug companies don't make a profit on these cheap drugs. methotrexate has been around for 50 years. there's no excuse it should not be available here in the united states. >> we are going to help you with your wish. we are going to continue to do it. thanks for sharing your story. i'll be thinking about you,

okay? >> okay. >> thanks for joining us. >> thank you. i want to turn to something else as well that takes a heavy toll on families. it's drug abuse. new understanding of how addiction changes the brain. addiction is still out there. it's different than what we used to think. >> this is your brain. this is heroin. this is what happens to your brain after starting heroin. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota.

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i want you to imagine just how loud it would sound if all the children in the world shouted, just say no, at the same time. that's how loud i want you to say it if someone offers you drugs. >> of course that was nancy reagan nearly 20 years ago. i'll tell you what doctors and researchers didn't know then, it's not just a matter of will power. 23 million americans fighting

addiction right now suffer from a chronic brain disease. this is important. drugs can change the brain that lead to cravings that feel like thirst and hunger. addict or not addict you have a response. you crave something. that involves the feeling of wanting something that feels good. look what happens when some of the substances come into the brain. drugs whatever they may be. the white particles are the feel-good chemical. they make you feel good and the brain lights up. it's the reward system. it's why people take the medications or substances. take a look at an addict versus non-addict. see the bright areas, they stay bright. it's important. they got the reward. in someone who is a drug abuser, look at the changes here. the reward didn't last long. imagine the solution. that person takes more and more substances to try to feel better. that's sort of the genesis of addiction. that's what it looks like inside the brain. it's simplistic in terms of how you look at addiction overall.

it's what occurs in the brain. it explains why it's not easy for an addict to just say no. something else i want to point out as well. that is young people are more resistant to injury and illness, but not necessarily addiction. a substance abuser under the age of 25 is vulnerable in part because the parts of brains that help you fight urges isn't fully developed yet. scott started drinking when he was 10 years old. by 15, using cocaine. it got worse after college. it got so bad after a bender, he woke up on the bathroom floor and eventually made the choice to fight back. scott joins us from denver. scott, thank you for sharing your story. i'm a dad now.

i think i approach the stories from a different perspective. you are clean now. you are running a non-profit in colorado and helping addicts. first, help parents understand, parents like me how kids got access and started using these drugs. >> yeah, i did start my use very young sanjay. i was first introduced to alcohol from seeing it in my own family. there was alcoholism in my family. witnessing it at a young age drew me to it more than other kids. once i was out drinking at a young age, i started to get into a circle of people that led me to, you know, marijuana and eventually cocaine. >> i have been talking a fair amount this weekend on how addiction is truly a brain disease. i'm preaching to the choir.

you work in this area now. like you are describing, you wanted to quit at times. you tried, had relapses. what was the stage for you when you realized maybe it was starting to turn around, it was getting better for you? >> i think it took me about a year or so to actually get clean. for a year, i was consciously trying to quit drinking. i did what a lot of some call bargaining. okay, no more liquor. i'm only going to drink beer from now on. what i realized, when i added alcohol to the equation i added harder drugs. once i was intoxicated, i couldn't control the bad decision making and i ended up using. >> i want to pick up at that pivotal moment. we are trying to help people. i'm shocked by the numbers. we are going to take a quick break. stick with us.

when we come back, scott is going to explain how he got through this. how something as simple as exercise helped him with addictions. also a doctor who has been on the show is going to join in the conversation. what's happening in medicine to help people like scott and a lot of other people. stay with us. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. 8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time.

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we're back with "sgmd." we are continuing the conversation with scott. as you heard before the break, scott started drinking at age 10. he was addicted to cocaine at 15. he fought like hell against addiction. he won and is helping other addicts stay clean. one of the country's top experts is also with us. i don't know how much you could hear of scott's story before the break, for an addict resisting the urge to use drugs is significant. it's like you or i needed food or water. it's hard, but manageable. let's talk about the newest forms of medications out there

to help people quit. >> medications have done well well in two areas of addiction. we've done well for nicotine addiction and done well for opioid addiction. the nicotine replacement therapies and methadone, we have the newest medication in our fight against prescription pills and heroin. and these medications have done quite well. on the other hand, we haven't done quite as well for cocaine. we've tried several different medications, nothing has panned out to be truly successful. >> what about alcohol? >> alcohol is somewhere in between. we do have some medications for alcohol, they are safe, they are effective. they do of course have side effects but they're not quite as strong as we hoped originally. i do prescribe them quite often

for the treatment of alcohol dependence but they have to be in combination with psychotherapy in combination with some kind of psycho social intervention, meaning the patient going to alcoholics anonymous or doing something more than taking medication. medications are simply not strong enough to carry the entire burden of illness on their shoulders. >> when people talk about the idea of disassociating your environment from your behavior if you stay in the same environment, the behavior's just going to continue. how big a deal is that for you, scott? >> it was probably the biggest part of my recovery finally sticking. as i said i tried to drink less and go to the bar less often, but if i kept myself surrounded with this group of people who were still actively using and it made it very difficult to get sober. finally i had to cut ties with all of those friends overnight. i fell very alone and isolated but it really was the only way i thought that i could maintain my sobriety. >> we're in three different cities now.

but, dr. levounis as you listen to scott and hear his story, is his a common story? you heard about how down deep he was but how he got out of it as well. >> i think is it a common story. and i think that scott did the right thing by cutting off his friends and going to the gym, by finding his own way of combatting the addiction. but for the majority of people, getting the help of a 12-step program, getting the help of psychotherapy, of a counselor, of a doctor, is often what is needed. >> i think there's messages in here for so many people in just, you know from addiction standpoint from a behavioral standpoint. scott, thanks for sharing your story. dr. levounis, i appreciate your insights very much. thank you. >> thank you. happy to be here. coming up, what happens when medicare pays for meditation class or pay for yoga?

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health issues don't come any bigger than heart disease. it's the number one kill, by far, this country, and the developed world. you know this if you watch the show. and you know something else as well. i have a family history of heart disease and i realize the old ways of fighting are just not enough. we decided to look at new tests and new diets and you know what doctors all over the country are doing the same thing. i want to show you something that we found in west virginia. an experiment that seems to be working. >> reporter: the gray stones on this hill read like a tragic roll call, one family's long, losing battle with heart disease. bob corona, 1992, heart attack. frank stosle, another family member, heart disease, another corona, heart disease. here are kathy and frank corona. >> by that large tree my father and his father are buried.

my father died at age 67. he had a or theic stenosis that was so kacal si fied at the autopsy they couldn't get a surgical probe through. >> reporter: frank and kathy have both suffered their own heart attacks as well. kathy has two stents holding her arteries open, frank has three. west virginia's rate of heart disease is right up there with the worst in the country. so maybe there wasn't much to lose when the hospitals treating the coronas offered ai knew approach based on a program developed by physician dean ornish. >> heart and booze vessel diseases kill more americans and in fact in most parts of the world nan everything else combined and what most people don't realize is that it doesn't have to be that way. we don't need to wait for a new breakthrough, new laser or something high-tech and expensive. we simply need to put into practice what we already know. >> these are just salads. >> reporter: it teaches a brand of prevention that might seem foreign here. a plant-based diet without

meats. >> tuck the shoulder blades into the back. >> reporter: stress management through yoga, meditation, and regular exercise. and that's not all. >> see what feeling is on our heart. >> reporter: ornish says to reverse heart disease you to break down emotional barriers that cause isolation and loneliness. study after study has shown that stronger social ties mean healthier lives. so in small groups, these heart patients open up with each other and share their feelings. >> it was really just energizing this morning for me. >> reporter: insurance pays for all of this. >> i've been taken off of four medication. it's a good deal for everybody. >> what about this heart rate here. >> reporter: enmedicare pays for 12 week of the ornish program with regular rehab for mart attack patients. that's right. medicare's not just paying for tests and pills but the same yoeg ga and discussion groups t changed their lives and also gave them precious years with their new grandchild.

here in these appalachian hills the gray stones of the future might tell a different story about heart disease in america. >> it's worth pointing out, not everyone agrees with the approach. but kathy it work. i bet you didn't know this about skinny jeans. if you love them, i may give you reasons to hate them. you know i'm not the fashion police, but jeans too tight and can compress nerves, interfere with digestion. some doctors blame too tight jeans for back pain. maybe next time, just reach for your cookie pants. >> i'm going to change. i brought my cookie pants. notice the loose waist to accommodate an expanding stomach. >> "scrubs" i love that show. that's going to wrap thin up for "sgmd