Levine, also tried to extort $$ from Jack in the BoxHoward Levine seems to be making the argument he just can’t get enough of drugs and courtrooms. The onetime nightclub singer and abortion doctor became the Internet’s Dr. Viagra, then attempted to extort a half-million dollars from Jack in the Box, and wound up selling steroids to gay clients at his neighborhood Starbucks on Capitol Hill. For that last rap, he got out of prison in January 2009 and seven months later was caught selling meth. Last week, he was sent back to prison, his third stay in ten years. He’s proving to be a doctor who can’t heal thyself and didn’t do all that well with some of his patients either. At his East Madison Street clinic, he kept a pool table in the exam room and beer in the refrigerator. In his abortionist past, at least nine patients accused him of violations ranging from verbal abuse to perforating their uteruses. Now he sees his own doctors, one of whom recently told a federal judge that the man who once earned top honors in med school has a probable bipolar disorder and is likely a meth addict.”If he tackled his methamphetamine dependence, it should be possible toaddress the other troublesome psychological issues,” says Paula Deutsch, his federal public defender. “Once the bipolar disorder is stable, he should be able to function much better. It is important to remember that Howard is a highly accomplished professional who achieved quite a bit in his earlier years,” and could return to form with another doctor’s help. Assistant U.S. attorney Mark Parrent is less convinced. “In particular,” he says, “the government is concerned about not only the defendant’s admitted use of methamphetamine, but the reckless circumstances of his use. The defendant, as a very intelligent man and a two-time federal felon, knows very well what is expected of him on supervised release but has chosen to evade his responsibilities.” He copped to using meth but was also accused of trying to sell it last August, after doing one year of a 22-month sentence for peddling steroids. He also allegedly committed several probation-rule violations. “Although the defendant’s psychological issues may have contributed to his behavior,” says Parrent, “clearly he also is able to make choices and simply is choosing to opt out of the rigors of meaningful supervision.”The U.S. sought a ten month re-commitment and 26 months of probation; last Wednesday, the court gave him eight months in prison along with the supervised release thereafter. A once-wealthy doctor with a family and successful practice, Levine should be free again by mid-year. Whether or not he makes something of it, his psychologist, Sheppard Salusky, indicates, depends on how he deals with “denial, minimization, and deception to self and others.” It will be uphill all the way. Having lost everything including his big Captiol Hill home and his medical license, he will once again be starting from scratch, this time at age 61.