Pubdate: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 Source: Metro (Vancouver, CN BC) Copyright: 2014 Metro Canada Contact: http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775 Author: Matt Kieltyka Page: 06 HEALTH OFFICIALS MEETING TO TACKLE METHADOSE ISSUE Welcome news. Teleconference set up to discuss claims that some patients are relapsing after switch Government and health officials are meeting Friday to discuss claims that some patients are relapsing after B.C. switched patients to a commercial methadone product in February. The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and the Drug Users' Resource Centre wrote an open letter this week saying that Methadose is proving to be ineffective for longtime methadone users, its effects wearing out after 16 hours and triggering withdrawal symptoms. Many stable, long-term methadone users have relapsed to using heroin, the letter claims. Health Minister Terry Lake has ordered an evaluation of the program. A teleconference between the ministry, College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C., College of Pharmacists of B.C., Vancouver Coastal Health and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals - the recipients of the letter - - has been scheduled for Friday to discuss the issue. The development was welcome news to Dean Wilson, of the Drug Users' Resource Centre. "I hope it's an easy fix; let people use methadone. It's a small amount of people affected anyway," he said. "Methadose is working just fine for people starting on it. But for some, they've been on methadone for 10 to 15 years, their bodies got used to it." Wilson hopes the government gets the information it needs quickly. On Wednesday, Health Minister Terry Lake acknowledged some patients may be better suited to methadone - which was mixed by pharmacists before Methadose was approved by Health Canada, and is taken in a different liquid solution though the dosage is the same - but didn't want to jump to conclusions. "We need to look at the experience and gather some data before we take some decisions moving forward," he said. - ------------------------------------------ [sidebar] Report lauds methadone program While the switch from generic methadone to brand-name Methadose is causing some patients difficulty, B.C.'s opioid substitution treatment system is working, according to a new report. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall's latest report finds that methadone and Suboxone have helped decrease mortality rates and reduced health-care costs. Mortality rates for people on a prescribed opioid substitute have fallen to 1.1 deaths per 100 person years, compared to an estimated 2.1 deaths per 100 person years for people using street heroin. The annual per-patient cost for treatment in B.C. averages $4,200, while the estimated health care, law enforcement and social costs of an untreated heroin addict is more than $40,000. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt