O'NEIL WANTS DRUG DEATH RATES CHECKED

PERTH doctor George O'Neil wants an independent investigation into a
study which found that patients prescribed naltrexone were at a
greater risk of dying than untreated heroin addicts.

The two-year study of 3617 heroin addicts by psychiatrist James
Fellows-Smith and GP John Edwards concluded that addicts on the
streets had a one in 100 chance of dying. This compared with one in 61
for those prescribed naltrexone and one in 458 for those on the
methadone program.

Dr O'Neil has called the study flawed. He said yesterday he had
written to Health Minister Bob Kucera with his suggestion for an
independent inquiry.

There were several internationally respected epidemiologists who could
make an impartial inquiry. It could be wrapped up within a week. He
did not support a full-blown inquiry into patients who had died after
being prescribed naltrexone because it would interfere with the
clinic's day-to-day work.

It was not fair to subject the clinic to a full inquiry when the
Government had starved it repeatedly of adequate funding, he said.

Mr Kucera said he had not received Dr O'Neil's letter but planned to
meet him within a fortnight to discuss a range of issues.

Dr Fellows-Smith said the object of the study was to determine the
base rates for mortality so that the ratios of risks to benefits could
be more accurately calculated for differing treatments.

"While there is a need to be objective and scientific, we also need to
keep things in a human perspective for what is a difficult and tragic
problem," he said.

His study was undergoing further critical analysis by the journal
Australian Drug and Alcohol Review. "To suggest I'm not independent
hits at the core of my work," he said.