DEADLY ABUSE OF METHADONE TOPS OTHER PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

Only Cocaine Kills More By Overdose

Methadone, a painkiller that has been used to treat heroin addicts
for decades, has emerged as an increasingly popular and deadly street
drug, joining narcotics such as Vicodin and OxyContin as frequently
abused prescription drugs.

Fatal overdoses of methadone rose at a higher rate than those
involving any other narcotic from 1999 through 2004, according to a
recent study by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The
number of deaths from methadone in 2004 (3,849) represented a 390%
rise from 1999, the study said.

Methadone was cited in nearly 13% of all the overdose deaths reported
in the USA in 2004, up from about 4% five years earlier. Among drugs
cited in fatal overdoses, only cocaine kills more people than methadone.

The NCHS study -- and reports from coroners nationwide that the trend
is continuing -- indicate that doctors' increasing tendency to
prescribe methadone as a cheap alternative to addictive pain
relievers such as OxyContin has made it easier for addicts to get
methadone, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Denise Curry says.

"It's out there, it's available, and it can be dangerous," Curry
says. Pharmacies report that methadone is among the most popular
drugs stolen, along with Vicodin and OxyContin, she says.

At about $20 a pill on the black market and pennies a dose when
prescribed, methadone is considerably cheaper than such opiates.

Methadone has long been viewed as a relatively safe and effective
narcotic, in part because its effects are gradual and it can ease
withdrawal symptoms for recovering heroin addicts.

However, it also is addictive, and drug addicts account for most
methadone-related deaths, says Nicholas Reuter, a senior public
health analyst at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration.

Reuter says the problem is complicated by doctors who prescribe
methadone incorrectly and patients who do not follow directions in
taking it. On Nov. 26, the Food and Drug Administration warned
doctors that "prescribing methadone is complex" because it eases pain
up to six hours but can stay in the body 59 hours. Patients may want
more before the dose wears off, the FDA warned.

"Methadone may build up in the body to a toxic level if it is taken
too often, if the amount taken is too high, or if it is taken with
certain other medications," the FDA said.

Authorities nationwide cite rising methadone fatalities:

Fatal drug overdoses in New Hampshire rose from 39 in 1995 to 105 in
2003, and chief state medical examiner Thomas Andrew determined that
methadone was the key. In 2005, Andrew says, at least 52 of the 153
people who died from overdoses in the state had taken methadone. He
suspects the trend continued in 2006.

Florida has had a "steady increase" in methadone deaths since 2001,
says Jennifer Cook Pritt of the Department of Law Enforcement.

In West Virginia, where fatal methadone overdoses rose from 40 in
2001 to 116 in 2005, state legislators are holding hearings on a plan
to limit the medical professionals who could prescribe the drug, says
Del. Don Perdue, a Democrat who leads the health committee in the
House of Delegates.