THE OTHER SIDE OF NALTREXONE

THE two main points of Norman Aisbett's report A trial for life (Big
Weekend, 28/11) were that naltrexone is a miracle drug and that Dr
George O'Neil is a saint. However, neither claim holds up to scrutiny
when it is compared with results of a symposium on naltrexone held
only three weeks ago in Sydney in conjunction with the National
Methadone Conference.

Dr James Bell, one of Australia's leading lights on addiction studies,
paints a different picture of treatment from that of Dr O'Neil. He
quotes horrendous retention rates, with 30 per cent to 50 per cent of
addicts dropping out in the first two weeks.

Indeed one clinical trial done by Malcolm Young of Sydney's Langton
Centre has retention rates of 26 per cent and 7 per cent in two
groups, Dr Bell gives an unbiased summary and says: "naltrexone should
not be registered until much more research is done and much better
outcomes are proved. The jury is out and rightly so."

His words, coupled with the facts that we still don't know what
naltrexone does to the liver and chances of overdose are greatly
increased when stopping naltrexone treatment, should indicate that
this treatment, when compared to the proved methadone program, should
be put on hold.

The other thing that concerns me about the Big Weekend report was some
of the claims of Dr O'Neil's clients. Statements like "he has an aura
of positivity", he "radiates goodness" and even "if there is a God, he
is definitely working out of this clinic". One must wonder whether
these "groupies" had been given some of naltrexone's history before
they started their treatment.

Did Dr O'Neil tell them that naltrexone has been used in more than 20
countries and before its claim as a heroin treatment, it was used for
such diverse ailments as autism, chronic fatigue syndrome, HIV, eating
disorders, hormonal disorders and even (before Viagra) erection problems?

Very rarely would I agree with the Federal Government but the Federal
Minister for Health is right not to be impressed by naltrexone.

ROSCO WOODS, Leederville.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry