RUSSIA BANS BRAIN SURGERY ON DRUG ADDICTS

A series of controversial brain operations pioneered by St Petersburg
scientists as a cure to drug addiction has been halted by Russian
authorities after a patient complained of damaging side-effects.

The operations, which began at the institute of the human brain in St
Petersburg in 1999, removed a part of the brain associated with addiction.
The programme has so far treated 335 patients, but the prosecutor's office
in St Petersburg ordered an end to the operations on Monday after a former
patient won a court case against the institute.

The patient claimed he had suffered headaches as a result of the operation,
which also failed to cure him of his addiction. The court awarded him the
cost of the surgery, about UKP5,000. Russian authorities then halted use of
the procedure on the grounds that it was experimental and had not been
licensed by the health ministry.

Sergei Pokohmov, the deputy director of the institute, said: "The patient's
complaints are not serious or true, and the court's decision was made
without considering any medical expertise."

The patient, known as Alexander L, a student at a military college, became
a heroin addict in 1997, according to Russian newspaper reports. Mr L's
family helped him find the money needed for the operation. After surgery,
he came off heroin for a month, but then started to suffer serious
headaches. He sought treatment to cure his headaches, and for an infection
which had set in on the stitches from the operation.

Once he returned to Moscow, he resumed taking heroin. However, Mr L said
that treatment at a different clinic had cured his addiction in October 2000.

The operation is one of several controversial anti-addiction treatments
used in Russia. In the technique, a small hole is cut in the scalp, and a
hole drilled in the skull. The doctors prefer not to put their patient
under a general anaesthetic so they can monitor their responses as they
probe the brain. About one cubic millimetre of tissue is taken from each
hemisphere of the brain.

Some 35% of addicts are reported to be cured straight away by the
operation. Another 32% take drugs once or twice, but do not renew their
addiction.

The institute has appealed against the decision. "Until now we have had no
complaints about the operation," said Mr Pokohmov. "As with any medical
procedure, we do not guarantee 100% success."