In New Hampshire, an Epidemic of Heroin Deaths Leads to a Radical Public Policy Proposal

By TERRY M. BENNETT, MD If ever there were an under-discovered, under-researched and under-treated epidemic, this is it. The Jessica McCassie case was all over the news this week, but a brief review produced five or six other cases of road accidents or young people discovered dead without explanation to make me believe the statistics are grossly under-reported. There are presently two programs in New Hampshire, which address diagnosed addicts and claim to be stabilizing and or curative. One, the methadone treatment centers, is a farce, and is operating at an enormous profit to the three doctors that own the chain, without effectively curing anybody so far as I can see from my viewpoint. It is worth noting the state of Maine has recently canceled any and all payments to methadone treatment programs because of their abysmal rate of return on investment. It is my opinion that New Hampshire should do likewise. The second program in New Hampshire is the Suboxone program, which I participated in as a licensed MD with Suboxone training. This program is elegant, because, unlike methadone, Suboxone is not sedating. A Suboxone patient, once stable, can perform complicated tasks, operate a motor vehicle, behave as a responsible parent, and in general conduct their lives as if they were not using an opioid. Once again, however, the cure rate for addicts in the Suboxone program approaches zero, almost nobody tapers down and quits using opioids. So we, as a society, are faced with a fairl...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: THCB Methadone Suboxone Terry M. Bennett Source Type: blogs