OVERDOSE OF GRIEF

Methadone Can Be A Helpful Drug, But An Alarming Rise In Fatal
Overdoses Calls For A Fresh Look At The Rules Governing It

The irony is unbearable that hundreds should die from a drug meant to
heal and comfort. For 50 years, methadone has rescued heroin addicts
and, by all accounts, still does.

It's just since private doctors began prescribing it for chronic pain
that large amounts of methadone have made it into the wrong hands.
Sadly, 23 Tar Heel teenagers have died from accidental overdoses of
methadone in the past three years -- 23 too many.

Next year, a new state law will enable the Division of Mental Health
to monitor a database for patients receiving several prescriptions for
controlled drugs. Yet as The N&O's Mandy Locke reports, a pain patient
still may be able to divert methadone to the black market without
tripping the division's alarms. If that loophole can be patched
without obstructing the legitimate use of methadone, legislators ought
to do it.

A positive side to the methadone story is that drug-treatment clinics
are dispensing it safely. The drug suppresses an addict's hunger for
heroin without the high that leaves him or her unable to work, care
for children or otherwise function. In this way, dependence on
criminals dealing drugs is broken.

Across North Carolina, 32 clinics dispense the drug on their premises
every day. As long as their procedures control methadone use, those
clinics should be allowed to continue their vital work without undue
interference.

The methadone that kills most often traces to a doctor or a medicine
cabinet at home. Doctors originally invented the drug to relieve pain,
but it wasn't until recently that management of chronic pain became
widely accepted.

When abuse of the popular pain-killer, OxyContin, brought law
enforcement attention, many doctors turned to methadone.

Besides being cheaper than OxyContin, methadone produces little of the
euphoria inviting abuse. That's no drawback for adults with chronic
arthritis or other painful illnesses.

For too many curious teenagers, though, methadone's mild effect has
turned out to be its fatal flaw. They keep taking tablets, but instead
of making them high, the drug tragically stops their breathing. Adults
owe them greater protection from accidental overdose.

As gatekeepers to the supply of methadone, doctors have a vital role
to play in protecting teens. Not only must they impress upon their
patients the drug's dangers, but they also need to discuss ways of
securing it.

When patients deceive to gain access to methadone, though, it may well
be the doctors who need help. At a minimum, the N.C. Medical Board
ought to sponsor training from law enforcement agencies to help
doctors spot a drug dealer in disguise. Lack of such training could
strengthen the board's case against any doctor who would endanger
kids. The quicker that opportunity can be removed, the better.