DRUG ADDICT DEATHS DULL WONDER DRUG

Heroin addicts in Queensland may be dying in greater numbers due to
reliance on a "wonder cure" being aggressively marketed by an evangelical
Brisbane doctor.

A Courier-Mail investigation has identified grave concerns among senior
doctors, carers and counsellors over the outcomes of an intense promotion
of naltrexone to drug addicts.

Health Minister Wendy Edmond and Lord Mayor Jim Soorley also are concerned.

The most outspoken advocate of naltrexone in Australia is Dr Stuart Reece,
whose Highgate Hill medical centre has become a place of hope for heroin
addicts and their parents since July 1998.

Figures reveal the death rate from opiate overdose in Queensland was
averaging 38 deaths annually in the five years to 1998, yet soared to 70 in
1999.

Ambulance officers also have attended a dramatically higher number of drug
overdoses, with the figures rising in the greater Brisbane area from 212
callouts in 1997 to 488 in 1999.

Investigations have highlighted the unregulated and increasing use of a
Perth-made naltrexone implant which has not been validated for use in
humans and has not undergone clinical trials nor had ethical approval.

"The rapid increase in deaths parallels the use of naltrexone. At this
stage we have no proof of a link, but it does concern me," Ms Edmond said.

Naltrexone is a prescription drug which blocks the effects of heroin when
addicts shoot up, but leaves them more vulnerable to overdose and death if
they relapse.

Dr Reece is a Christian fundamentalist who has won wide acclaim among
addicts and parents for his care and devotion to their troubles, but many
of his peers have major reservations about his work.

Dr Reece has treated almost 850 patients with naltrexone since 1998 and
knows of 24 deaths among them.

"It may be so that that linkage is correct and I agree it should be
explored," he said.

"About a year after we began there was a cluster of deaths. I think that's
because addicts don't believe what we tell them that it can be dangerous
and they find out for themselves. The kids are dying anyway and anyone who
tries to help will have deaths."

Cr Soorley, once a supporter of Dr Reece, has called for an exhaustive
inquiry into the outcomes for his patients.

"It is now time Queensland Health, the State Government and medical and
community experts involved with drug and harm minimisation treatment review
Dr Reece's work," he said. "If his treatment is proven to be successful it
should be duplicated. If not it should be reviewed."

Queensland Alcohol and Drug Foundation chief Bob Aldred said doctors
inserting implants should be immediately prevented from doing so pending
rigorous trials.

"The research findings of high death rates, suicides and overdoses amongst
those who have been treated with naltrexone have been ignored for too
long," he said.

Professor John Saunders said he was "very concerned about the unfettered
enthusiasm that some of my colleagues have shown for naltrexone".