Pubdate: Sat, 02 Jun 2001
Source: Courier-Mail, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2001 News Limited
Contact:  http://www.thecouriermail.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/98
Author: Matthew Hart

NALTREXONE BAN 'MAY COST LIVES'

FAMILIES of recovering heroin addicts fear their loved ones have been left 
without a lifeline after a Brisbane doctor was banned from using 
controversial implants.

Drug Free Alliance president Mark Dindas yesterday said the implant ban had 
put the lives of about 100 recovering heroin addicts in Brisbane at risk.

``Who will take responsibility if any of these presently healthy recovering 
addicts die because they give in to the craving for heroin which will 
return when the implants dry up?'' he said.

Naltrexone is a prescription drug which blocks the effects of heroin when 
addicts inject.

Brisbane mother Marie Frances said implants had helped her 24-year-old son 
be clean of heroin for six months -- his longest drug-free period in the 
past eight years.

She said naltrexone pills had not been successful for many patients because 
the treatment relied on patients to take the pills regularly.

Another parent, Tony Trimmingham, who heads the group Family Drug Support, 
has called for a rigorous evaluation of naltrexone implants under clinical 
conditions.

He warned families it was not ``the magic bullet''.

``You've got evangelical doctors who are out there selling it, and of 
course that's a recipe for disaster,'' he said.

Medical experts are alarmed there have been at least 24 deaths among almost 
850 patients treated with naltrexone by Dr Stuart Reece.

The University of Queensland's Professor John Saunders, a senior 
psychiatrist and authority on naltrexone, yesterday welcomed the Medical 
Board of Queensland's ban on Dr Reece using the implants.

But Professor Saunders said appropriate arrangements had to be made for 
patients who had received implants.

``Anybody who has had a period off heroin and subsequently resumes use is 
at risk of an overdose,'' he said.

``It is now incumbent on the doctor who provides the patient with the 
implant to work out with them what is the most appropriate available 
treatment.''

Some of Dr Reece's patients have begun making plans to travel to Perth so 
they can continue to receive the implants.

The Medical Board yesterday said it was concerned about patients with 
naltrexone implants, especially those whose implants were due for 
replacement soon.

``It is essential that these patients get ongoing care,'' the board said.

The board has been advised that facilities at Biala in Roma St (phone: 3238 
4080) and the Melaleuca Centre at Prince Charles Hospital (phone: 3350 
8080) are available to offer assistance.

Perth Dr George O'Neil, who makes naltrexone implants, rebutted board 
claims this week that the implants had not been fully tested on humans and 
that production had ceased.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart