How acupuncture inadvertently revealed an Angelos weakness

News of the death of Peter Angelos stirred my memories of showing him acupuncture for treating addiction and other health issues (“Peter Angelos’ baseball legacy is complicated. But the Orioles remaining in Baltimore is part of it.” March 24). In 2000 I was convinced by my wife Betsey and other friends to join the Traditional Acupuncture Institute in Columbia for a year and help them expand offerings in herbal medicine and wellness counseling, start the formal college accreditation process and secure land, financing and design for a new building on 11 acres in Laurel, all of which somehow happened.

The Acupuncture Institute was then also, largely under its own auspices and staff support, operating in Baltimore a Penn North clinic in space upstairs on Pennsylvania Avenue. The clinic served citywide patients but focused on serving its Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood.

One day because of our community health work, we were able to convince Peter Angelos, who got his asbestosis legal work partially started with stats from a community health clinic in Dundalk, to drive over to Penn North for a visit.

We started his visit with a session of those in recovery and practitioners, all sitting in a circle telling the stories. One especially bright and verbal young client was originally from Miami, where he had been a major drug dealer with other gang members. Besides how the drug trade was organized, Angelos kept quizzing him on “the take,” real dollar monthly business and profit numbers which were quite significant. “So what did you do with all the money?” Angelos repeatedly asked. He was told about trips and women and cars and clothes. He soon discovered there had been no savings, no investments, no attempt to create any cover of legitimate business, nothing left behind. Angelos looked down at a well-worn carpet and shook his head in despair.

I asked him if he wanted to see a full-body acupuncture treatment. He agreed and we entered a small treatment room with a patient lying on a treatment table. He was told what examination of the patient had revealed and how the regimens of traditional five element Chinese medicine would be used for treatment. He seemed fascinated. But just as the first needle was applied, Angelos suddenly looked queasy and bolted out the room. He quickly shook hands and thanked folks gathered outside and then headed down the stairs to the street.

As he passed me with a grimace he confessed, “I’m scared of needles.”