DAUGHTER SOUGHT HELP FROM CLINIC

`Confused' Mother On Methadone Was Getting Higher Dose, Inquest Told

A 25-year-old Oshawa woman told an inquest jury yesterday of her
desperate attempts to get help for her mother, who died at home while
being treated for a prescription drug addiction at an Oshawa methadone
clinic.

Darlene Jenkins said her mother, Judith Jenkins, 44, was "very, very
tired and confused," after her methadone dose had been increased
repeatedly shortly before her death on Sept. 21, 2003.

An inquest presided over by regional coroner Dr. William Lucas is
looking into four methadone-related deaths in the Oshawa area. Three
of the people were patients at the First Step clinic.

Darlene Jenkins said when she visited her mother on Sept. 17, the
older woman was "very sleepy and when she did get up she had no idea
where she was."

She told her daughter her methadone, a synthetic opiate used in
addiction therapy to replace heroin, morphine and prescription drugs,
had been increased in recent weeks to a point where she was receiving
a daily dose of 110 milligrams.

Experts at the inquest have testified that 60 milligrams per day is an
average daily maintenance dose of methadone.

Darlene Jenkins said she called the First Step clinic, where her
mother was a patient, to find out what was making her "groggy and
incoherent."

When she did not receive a satisfactory reply, she took her mother to
the clinic, on a Friday, and demanded answers. She was told the
methadone dose might be interacting with other drugs her mother was
taking.

A doctor advised that her mother should not take diazepam -- a
tranquilizer -- with the methadone. She was also given three "carry
away" doses of methadone to last her mother the weekend.

Darlene Jenkins, who has two small children, gave the three doses to
her mother's landlord, with instructions that she be given one each
day over the weekend.

On Sunday morning, Darlene received a telephone call from her
15-year-old sister, who said her mother was very ill. Darlene rushed
to her mother's apartment but by the time she got there the woman had
died.

The inquest heard that Judith Jenkins had taken one dose of methadone
on Saturday but the other two bottles of methadone were never
accounted for.

Durham Crown Attorney John Scott said the inquest will try to
determine if there are "better ways" of treating drug addiction using
methadone.

Anesthetist Douglas Gourlay, an expert in methadone treatment, told
the inquest it is "a safe and socially acceptable replacement for heroin."

He said doctors who prescribe methadone, a restricted drug, must take
a training course first and are then subjected to an extensive audit
of their work after the first year.

He said the dispensing of methadone by doctors is subject to
provincial regulations and the supervision of pharmacists.

But Gourlay said the current regulations were designed for small
individual medical practices and may not meet the needs of some of the
larger clinics now operating.

The inquest continues.