GOVT DENYING HEROIN ADDICTS VITAL TREATMENT: GP

BRISBANE -- Thousands of heroin addicts were being denied a potentially
life-saving treatment by Queensland health authorities, a leading drug
treatment expert said today.

The Australian inventor and leader of naltrexone implant technology Dr
George O'Neil said Queensland addicts had to fly to his clinic in Perth for
treatment.

The Medical Board of Queensland last year ruled against the insertion of
naltrexone implants.

Dr O'Neil, who addressed about 30 supporters outside the Queensland Health
building in Brisbane today, said the implants were superior to oral
naltrexone and other treatments for heroin addicts.

He said the implants last between six and 12 months, ensuring continued
treatment because heroin addicts were by nature not reliable when taking
oral medication.

Dr O'Neil said Queensland was the only state to ban outright the
potentially life-saving treatment.

"You can get methadone in Queensland no trouble, but if you want to give up
heroin you have to fly interstate for treatment," he told journalists.

"We know that two per cent of heroin addicts die per year, which means one
out of every 50 who can't afford to fly are dying because the government's
restricting the treatment.

"I think in the long run people might sue the government for interfering
with treatment which should have been available to their kids."

Dr O'Neil said he has treated more than 450 heroin-addicted patients with
naltrexone implants and none have overdosed.

But in Queensland in May last year, the Medical Board told Brisbane
naltrexone specialist Dr Stuart Reece he could no longer insert naltrexone
implants.

The board ruled the implants have not been subject to controlled trials to
test their safety.

Dr O'Neil described the Medical Board's data as "flawed".

"I call on the Health Minister Wendy Edmond to reverse her decision on
naltrexone implants, to accept that she has not been given all the full
facts and to suggest to the Medical Board that it withdraws its unfounded
accusations against Dr Reece," he said.

But Ms Edmond said the ban on implants won't be lifted until more work was
done on the safety aspects of patients using naltrexone at a national level.

"Whether you can use implants is a matter for the Therapeutic Goods
Administration (TGA), not just Queensland Health," she said.