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Deaths Soar as Methadone Use Rises

Prescriptions of effective but risky painkiller up 700%

By Sam Biddle, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 17, 2008 7:01 AM CDT

(Newser) – Methadone, formerly used primarily to treat heroin addicts, is now increasingly being prescribed for patients suffering from debilitating pain. Powerful and long-lasting, it's proved effective for millions, but it's also risky, causing more than 4,000 deaths between 1999 and 2005. The New York Times investigates the medical community’s struggle with the drug.

Prescriptions of methadone, a synthetic form of opium, soared 700% between 1998 and 2006, as doctors sought alternatives to often-abused drugs like OxyContin. But it's also become the fastest growing cause of narcotic deaths. “This is a wonderful medicine used appropriately, but an unforgiving medicine used inappropriately,” one pain specialist tells the Times. “Many legitimate patients, following the direction of the doctor, have run into trouble with methadone, including death.”

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Graphic looks at the recent increase in methadone-related deaths (AP Photo)

As methadone use for pain has soared, so have methadone deaths. (Index Open/Ron Chapple )

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Insurance plans embraced methadone as a cheaper alternative to painkillers like OxyContin, and doctors switched to prescribing it because it seemed less controversial and perhaps less prone to abuse.

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Deaths Soar as Methadone Use Rises