the national institute on drug abuse agreed to support dr.ith a brain implant. in 2019, the fda gave him a green light to attempt the groundbreaking surgery. that is jared buckhalter. he agreed to be the first addiction patient in the u.s. to get the implant. dr. rezai's team interviewed him the day before the surgery. >> the best outcome possible would be, you know, just to cut the cravings out and make me feel a little bit better, if, you know, if those couple of things happen, you know, uh, that's all i could possibly ask for. >> at that time, i was so desperate for a better life, that i was willing to do just about anything. and i signed up to do it. >> i think some people might look at this and think, an electronic implant in the brain sounds a little creepy. >> people may be 50 years ago, they say, an implant in the heart sounds creepy. now it's like normal. 25 years ago, people were saying, what are you doing? you're putting an implant in the brain for parkinson's? but now it is a routine part of standard of care for advanced parkinson