Complaint Review: Dr. Jeffrey Junig

I am writing this addition to report to say that last year Dr. Junig and I shared several emails in which he apologized for the incident and I gladly accepted his apology and after well wishes on both sides we showed how even though sometimes in life we all have disagreements and make mistakes we are all human and deserve opportunity to make amends and be forgiven.

Unfortunately ripoff report will not take down this post because I tried and they said no. I feel at this point it is doing no good as we have both moved on. That is very unfortunate but I'm writing this update so people know the end of the story and do not judge Dr. Junig on a past mistake from quite some time ago. Regardless of different approaches I respect anyone that truly has desire to help people with addiction as I believe he does.

Anyone out there suffering from addiction just know there are as many treatments as there are addicts and if one doesn't work for you keep searching as in my case you can find the right fit and environment to facilitate healing and allows YOU to free yourself from addiction.

"God bless"

I have been a patient of Dr Junig for several years. I started seeing him at first as a buprenorphine only patient, I now see him for many other health issues, including addiction. He is the smartest man I have ever met, as a recovering addict himself, he is able to reach the addict at the core level. He is the author of the website Suboxone talk zone, a very informative site with lots of followers. He is the preeminent authority on Buprenorphine in the world!! He teaches the class to physicians that is needed to hold the liscense to prescribe Subutex/Suboxone. Go to his web site and read his story. He has always been polite, sympathtic and caring, and I highly recommend Dr Junig to anyone with addiction/mental health issues. Thank you

Hello,

I found this rip off report because I googled Dr. Junig and read through all of it. 

I googled the doctors name because I had been looking for someone to help me out with issues I was having with my own personal doctor and my use of subutex.  I found Dr. Junig on suboxone talk and I wrote to him.  I also found other Drs from other sites and to them as well.
The one and only response I received was from Dr. Junig.  He wanted some information so he could give me a more in depth answer to the issue I was having.  To put a long story short, Dr Junig was the one and only person to take the time out of his busy life to try and help me.  Mind you he did this for me without being paid for his time.  

I think it says a great deal about Dr Junig that he was willing to help me by investigating my issues further without being paid.  Not many people do this kind of act of kindness.  Everyone else that I wrote to ignored my emails.  Dr Junig did this for me without anything to gain from it.

This report drives me nuts because the unsatisified customer posted just what he wanted and I highly doubt he listed everything he said.  I personally don't understand how someone could get so angery over what the Doc said.  Dr Junig was more than happy to send a refund.  He was just trying to make sure that the customer gave the product a chance.  He was only trying to have the customer be aware of his closed minded actions.  To me, its just a way of trying to get the customer to look deeper in their souls and open your mind. 

Dr Junig is a rare gem.  He is willing to help others in a time of great need and he does it selflessly.  Just remember when reading this report, that the customer could have posted what he wanted everyone to see and not the whole conversation.  Please don't judge Dr Junig over this one report.  

In reading Dr. Junigs response I have to add that I find him to be quite full of himself. A lot of people give HIM credit for what they have done themselves and he gladly takes credit for it.
When you entered into and remained in recovery, you are the one who did the work. Not the dear Dr.

All this guy wanted was a refund for something he was not satisfied with. A simple easy refund.
He was honest in his statement that he felt he had been misled. 

And in return the dear doctor turned on him. It makes me wonder what he says to his patients when they say something that he does not agree with. 
Patients beware!

I'm glad to have run into Dr. Junig's web site. He has taught me so much through his writing. I've learned so much and I wish there were more out there like him.

Thank you so much, Dr. Junig. Thank you for being so open and honest with all of us. You are a God sent. There is no one like you. Thank you. I wish my doctor was like you, but there aren't many loving, understanding, honest men/women out there like you.

Junig's conduct towards a customer who expressed displeasure and requested a refund was immature in the extreme, offensive, self righteous and highly unprofessional. I am flabbergasted and disgusted. 

I'm shocked and disgusted over Dr Junig's behavior in this case. Any damage to his reputation he did himself. This kind of conduct in unprofessional and inexcusable regardless of how angered Dr Junig was over the customer's comment that his product was misleading. As a physician Dr Junig should know better then to give a professional opinion about someone's problems based on a few lines in an email. That he did it because he was angered makes it even worse. Maybe Dr Junig should take a look at his anger issues and his tendency of being reactionary and abrasive in this case and others.

The obvious inappropriate behavior in this email exchange is indefensible and I'm surprised that Dr Junig even tries to defend it and even step it up. His reputation and credentials are irrelevant in this case. This was out of line and very unbecoming of any professional especially a doctor.

I was thoroughly outraged, disgusted and sickened almost to the point of physical nausea at this wanton character assassination of Dr. Jeffrey Junig, a "giant walking among midgets," by this man in Connecticut.  And this, for $20.  Shame on you from Connecticut.

I have never met Dr. Junig, but I invite every fair-minded individual to investigate his outstanding credentials and arrive at their own decision as to his qualifications, objectivity, and selfless dedication to those suffering with addiction.  And certainly not to enrich himself at the expense of the hapless and helpless, as he offers most of his wisdom and experience at no cost!!

I want everyone reading this to know that I credit Dr. Junig's approach to addiction as having saved my life...having exhausted every known treatment in the lexicology, psychology and pharmacology of "cures."

One final note:  I think it a rank obscenity that while "Googling" Dr. Junig's 19 free You tube lectures for a friend, I should stumble upon this first listing of his name as now associated with the cheap, libelous, and churlish vernacular of "ripoff."  My fear is that that so many lives that might yet be saved through Dr. Junig's rational approach to curing addiction may now be lost because of this self-righteous, sanctimonious and, sadly, pathetic individual from Connecticut.  And in his own words, if there is a god blessing Dr Junig as he sarcastically suggests, I hope that same divinity is forgiving him!  






 




 

Today I recieved the following emails that basically threatened to post my name and personal information not only on this site but Dr. Junig's personal blog. Which I have no problem with because I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of unlike Dr. Junig. I have never met Dr. Junig, he is not my Dr. and knows nothing about me. The only interactions we've had are posted on this site. The facts are I ordered a product that I was not happy with and what you read is exactly what has happened. I just want people to know the truth and if you read this it is easy to see who tells lies and is trying to do some damage control now that he has been exposed. You have been warned about this man and you can decide for yourself whether he is someone you would want to have treat youself or any member of your family. And if you order his products you now see for yourself how safe your personal information will be. Lastly to Dr. Junig, I don't need to defend myself, my character or my life to you and you are free to assume and say whatever you wish about me. The fact that you don't know me speaks for itself. I have no ill will toward you however, there was no reason to respond to my request for a refund the way that you did and people have a right to know. Again Please do not send me personal emails as I have requested several times now or I will contact the proper authorities as it is becoming harrassment. You can write rebuttals all you want just please personally leave me alone. Thanks

Dr. Junig-Just so you are aware, I will be sharing your posts on 'rip-off report' on
my blog, including identifying you by name.  'Protection' cuts both ways;
you are entitled to identify me, and of course I am entitled to identify
you.

I'll explain, just so you know, how frustrating it is to deal with addicts;
I'll apologize for my language, but explain what everybody already knows--
that addicts are a self-righteous bunch, and it takes strong language to
have any impact on them.  I'll explain that as an addict myself, it was
strong words that got me clean 20 years ago-- and that keeps me clean today.

I'm not certain why you wanted to take it to such a level. But if you are
out there trashing my reputation, you don't get to remain faceless and
nameless.  
Dr. Junig-You'll also want to read my rebuttal on rip-off report, Mr. K

God Bless!

My response-
-----Original Message-----
From: 
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 12:32 PM
To: Jeffrey T Junig MD PhD
Subject: Re: David K  CT

Please do not email me anymore. Thanks  

Dr. Junig
You are welcome to remove your comments on the web site;  in the meantime we
have unfinished business.  You do not have the right to publicize our
communication and then run and hide.  As I mentioned, I will be protecting
my name, and my business, including pointing out the character of the person
who is attempting to damage me.  That is MY right.  




 

I want to first make clear that David Kekacs, the person filing the report, is not and has never been a patient of mine.  He lives in Connecticut and I live and practice in Wisconsin. 

I am recovering from opiate dependence.  I left my anesthesia practice in 2001 to increase my odds for surviving my addiction.  Since that time I have spent a significant amount of my time in the treatment of addiction to narcotics.  The work is very difficult;  anyone who has lived with, worked with, or treated narcotic addicts is familiar with the self-centeredness, the sense of being 'special', the avoidance of responsiblity, and the deceit that become hallmarks of the personality of the using addict.

I have several award-winning web sites that are funded entirely by myself, that serve to educate recovering opiate addicts and provide a means for addicts to exchange useful information.  On the web sites I have links to recordings that describe what I learned from dealing with my own addiction over 20 years.  I am not one to mince words;  I call things as I see them, something that has produced positive feedback from those who had the courage to open their minds to the changes required to get clean.

Mr. Kekacs angered me when he said in his first e-mail that the tapes were 'misleading'.  Anyone who visits my sites knows where I stand on the treatment of addiction.  I was particularly angered by his negative focus on the steps.  This becomes very complicated, and you can read more on my web site about my philosophy...   the steps saved MY life, but with opioid dependence the long-term success rate of the steps alone is quite low, particularly in young people.  My belief (which is what is on the audio tapes) is that the best approach to treating addiction to narcotics is the new medication buprenorphine, BUT if a person wants to avoid buprenorphine, the only other approach that has shown success is residential, step-based treatment.

Mr. Kekacs has an attitude similar to the attitudes of most narcotic addicts-- that I want help, but I want MY kind of help.  I have seen too many people die from that type of ignorance.  There is an old phrase that applies well to the treatment of narcotic addiction:  'Insight maketh a bloody entrance.'  I have learned over the years that I can either 'make nice' with addicts and have 'nice' appointments where they fail to improve... or I can call people on their behavior and attempt to shock them out of complacency.  The words are crude, and were intended to drive an addict to take a look at himself.  They were not written for 'public consumption.' 

I ask that people who read the exchange read Mr. Kekacs comments-- at least the ones he chose to share.  It would be nice if we could fix addiction through nice conversations, but as people who live with addicts know, it does not work that way.  Residential treatment is more civilized, but I'm working through a $20 tape-- not a $50,000 stay in treatment! 

One final comment.  Twelve steps programs have their deficiencies, but at this point, there is nothing available that rivals their success rates-- EXCEPT taking a chronic medication, in the case of opioids (pain pills and heroin).  My Kekacs has his links accusing AA of being 'propaganda'-- but every addict who fails treatment tends to blame the program, rather than do the hard work of changing one's self, in order to FIT recovery.  While I regret the exact words that I used-- i.e. 'jack-a*s'-- I am not sure what other word to use to describe the boorish behavior that characterizes active addiction.  And perhaps some good will come of all of this.  At least the exchange shows a typical example of the denial that characterizes addiction.  I'll take a good look at my own actions... and I encourage Mr. Kekacs to do the same.