NALTREXONE IMPLANTS WITHDRAWN AS HEROIN DEBATE RAGES

The makers of naltrexone implants used to treat heroin addicts have stopped
production because of concerns over their use.

The decision to stop making the $500 implants until they have been
subjected to rigorous testing will alarm hundreds of Queensland heroin
addicts who have had them fitted or are waiting to have the minor operation.

Brisbane mother Michele Cole, whose daughter Mardi has been fitted with an
implant, said yesterday it was a terrifying development for parents who
desperately wanted to keep their children off heroin.

But senior medical experts hailed the decision as overdue.

The implants have been strongly recommended by Brisbane doctor Stuart
Reece, who is the subject of a Medical Board investigation. Dr Reece and Dr
David Hunt have bought implants from Perth doctor George O'Neil who
develops and sells them through his Go Medical Industries.

Dr O'Neil struck a deal with Perth's Curtin University of Technology to
make the implants in a student laboratory in the School of Pharmacy.

The implants are not validated for use in humans and there has been no
ethical approval for the project. However, about 40 implants a week have
been sent to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Europe.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has been alerted over fears about the
quality of the implants.

Correspondence obtained yesterday reveals that Curtin University fears
being sued since an investigation by The Courier-Mail highlighted several
key concerns.

After being surgically inserted into the abdomen the implants are meant to
work for about three months by releasing naltrexone, a drug which blocks
heroin.

But medical experts have expressed grave concerns that the experimental
implants could harm addicts because of flaws such as the imprecise release
of the naltrexone.

Several users have been overpowering the implants with life-threatening
doses of heroin. There have been a number of infections and self-mutilation
by addicts desperate to cut the implants out to return to their habit.

Curtin School of Pharmacy head Bruce Sunderland in a confidential letter to
Dr O'Neil expressed "great concerns I had when I was informed that some of
the implants had left Western Australia". "I therefore find it necessary to
inform you that until a trial protocol has been passed by an ethics
committee, that naltrexone implants for individual patients cannot be
made," Professor Sunderland's letter says.

Dr Reece and Dr O'Neil have been given until June 1 by the Therapeutic
Goods Administration to justify using the unregistered products.