NALTREXONE BAN 'MAY COST LIVES'

FAMILIES of recovering heroin addicts fear their loved ones have been left
without a lifeline after a Brisbane doctor was banned from using
controversial implants.

Drug Free Alliance president Mark Dindas yesterday said the implant ban had
put the lives of about 100 recovering heroin addicts in Brisbane at risk.

``Who will take responsibility if any of these presently healthy recovering
addicts die because they give in to the craving for heroin which will
return when the implants dry up?'' he said.

Naltrexone is a prescription drug which blocks the effects of heroin when
addicts inject.

Brisbane mother Marie Frances said implants had helped her 24-year-old son
be clean of heroin for six months -- his longest drug-free period in the
past eight years.

She said naltrexone pills had not been successful for many patients because
the treatment relied on patients to take the pills regularly.

Another parent, Tony Trimmingham, who heads the group Family Drug Support,
has called for a rigorous evaluation of naltrexone implants under clinical
conditions.

He warned families it was not ``the magic bullet''.

``You've got evangelical doctors who are out there selling it, and of
course that's a recipe for disaster,'' he said.

Medical experts are alarmed there have been at least 24 deaths among almost
850 patients treated with naltrexone by Dr Stuart Reece.

The University of Queensland's Professor John Saunders, a senior
psychiatrist and authority on naltrexone, yesterday welcomed the Medical
Board of Queensland's ban on Dr Reece using the implants.

But Professor Saunders said appropriate arrangements had to be made for
patients who had received implants.

``Anybody who has had a period off heroin and subsequently resumes use is
at risk of an overdose,'' he said.

``It is now incumbent on the doctor who provides the patient with the
implant to work out with them what is the most appropriate available
treatment.''

Some of Dr Reece's patients have begun making plans to travel to Perth so
they can continue to receive the implants.

The Medical Board yesterday said it was concerned about patients with
naltrexone implants, especially those whose implants were due for
replacement soon.

``It is essential that these patients get ongoing care,'' the board said.

The board has been advised that facilities at Biala in Roma St (phone: 3238
4080) and the Melaleuca Centre at Prince Charles Hospital (phone: 3350
8080) are available to offer assistance.

Perth Dr George O'Neil, who makes naltrexone implants, rebutted board
claims this week that the implants had not been fully tested on humans and
that production had ceased.