HEROIN USERS MISS SUBSIDY ON NALTREXONE

AUSTRALIA'S first anti-craving treatment for alcoholics became
available on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme from yesterday.

Alcoholics will pay $20 for a month's supply of naltrexone but heroin
addicts will continue to pay the wholesale price. Distributor Orphan
Australia dropped the price of naitrexone on non-PBS private
prescriptions from $160 to $144.50 last week but admits it will be
almost impossible to secure a subsidy for heroin users.

Naltrexone works by blocking opiod receptors in the brain, decreasing
the reward sensation and diminishing the need for continued drug use.

Orphan's managing director, Alastair Young, said the slight drop in
price for privately prescribed naltrexone would put pressure on
pharmacists to reduce their mark-up.

He said some had charged up to $330 for a month's supply since
naltrexone became available on private prescription last year. Orphan
would consider asking the Pharmaceutital Benefits Advisory Committee
to reconsider PBS listing of naltrexone to heroin addicts.

"They (PBAC) have made it incredibly difficult for us," he said. "It
will be almost impossible to satisfy their requirements."

Perth naltrexone doctor George O'Neil could not be reached for comment
but he has been a vocal critic of the decision to make heroin addicts
pay full price for the treatment.

Stephen Jurd, director of drug and alcohol services at Royal North
Shore Hospital in Sydney, said naltrexone was the first of a class of
anti-craving drugs that decreased the relapse rate among people with
alcohol dependency.

The drug, which will be sold under the brandname ReVia, has been shown
to prevent relapse, reduce craving and increase abstinence when it is
used in conjunction with a treatment program.

Alcohol dependence contributes to the deaths of 6000 people in
Australia a year.