BID TO CUT PRICE OF ADDICTION ANTIDOTE

Naltrexone, the drug that blocks heroin cravings, could be placed on the
subsidised drug scheme from August in a bid to cut the nation's $7
billion-a-year bill for heroin and alcohol abuse.

Drug company Orphan Australia has applied to have the drug listed on the
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

It wants the drug, which costs up to $300 a month, to be made available for
as little as $20 a month to former heroin addicts who have completed
detoxification programs and alcohol abusers willing to quit.

The application is to be fast-tracked by the PBS branch of the Health
Department, which is expected to answer by August 1. This is less than half
the time for a normal approval.

The development also follows federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge's
agreement to fast-track the availability of the drug in Australia.

The drug has been available through specialists, general practitioners and
in drug programs since March 1 but is out of reach for many former addicts
or alcohol abusers.

University of Queensland professor of Alcohol and Drug Studies John Saunders
yesterday said making the drug cheaper had the potential to make a big
impact on heroin addiction and alcohol abuse.

He said it would not replace methadone as a means of weaning addicts off
heroin, but it was shown to be effective in blocking cravings once the
former addict had been through detoxification.

Professor Saunders said if only a small proportion of the country's 270,000
alcohol-dependent people and up to 80,000 regular heroin users took part in
a three-month course of the drug, it could have a dramatic impact on health
costs.

The director of the Integrated Mental Health Service at the Gold Coast
Hospital, Phillip Morris, said Naltrexone's impact on alcohol dependence had
been proven in at least two US studies and in a yet-to-be published
Melbourne study. That study, which involved 111 elderly and war veterans,
found the relapse rate with Naltrexone was 49 per cent compared with 75 per
cent with a placebo.

Australian Medical Association national president David Brand last night
said Naltrexone would be a useful adjunct in drug treatment, provided it was
approved through the proper channels.

Dr Brand said the AMA was pushing for the Howard Government to consider a
heroin trial as a further approach to combating drug abuse.