Methadone is a drug with no ill will or intentions. Just like any other medication or object: it can’t do harm to a human being all by itself.

I am so sorry for your loss….but you know (and obviously the court knew) this isn’t the drugs fault: it was the doctor who prescribed it KNOWING that he had other medications that could interact with it. The human beings helped cause his death because of negligence: from the doctor, to the pharmacist and right on down to your husband and yourself not taking the time to read about the medication he was about to take.

Ever heard that saying “guns don’t kill people…people kill people!” well it’s true. In your case none of the participants planned to harm your husband but by neglecting to warn him of dangers they HELPED to harm him.

And for the record-every medication on the face of the earth has risks. If your taking a medication you should know those risks and be willing to accept them.

Regards,
Sammy

We filled the prescription on February the third, late evening and in the early a.m. hours of February 5 he passed away. We were scheduled to go on vacation and laid down for a brief nap, about 45 mins. Well completely devastating and sadly I awoke and he did not. Of course an in depth autopsy was performed, due to his passing at home with no known life threatening illness and his early age of 38. Do you ever think about the implications and ramifications when someone, a non addict dies at home as my husband did. Needless to say I was kept away from my husband, because the spouse is always the first one looked at when death occurs unnaturally. Can you imagine the pain and heartache I experienced and continue to experience. First they suspected foul play and then suicide, neither of which was true but it was devastating all the same. I was not allowed to ride in the ambulance with my husband and was only to be with him, his body for 15 mins before his body was removed to the morgue.

I will make an assumption here and assume you have not,and if I am wrong then I extend my apology. Initially the coroner attempted to state the manner of death as natural. Absurd don’t you think? Or do you know of any situation when a man 38 years old dies of natural causes. After many heated discussions with the coroner, he relented and performed a full toxicology panel. Sure enough the manner of death was changed to a lethal interaction of prescription medicine. However the other medications were found at theraputic levels and non lethal and all prescribed by the same physician. The Methadone level on the other hand was found below prescribed levels, meaning that given his presciption amount he should have had even a higher level of Methadone in his system, yet even at the level it was it was lethal.

To quote your words, “oh come on now”. Do you honestly believe Methadone has saved your life? If so why? Perhaps you need to take your own advice and look at why you began taking and became addicted to opiates. You say Methadone does NOT kill people, ADDICTION kills people!!! Well I have personally experienced METHADONE KILLING MY HUSBAND, not addiction, so to say otherwise is completely false and not based on any real fact but rather your opinion. We here in America are extremely fortunate to be able to have and express are own opinions. However you must never lose sight of the fact that it is only an opinion.

Perhaps the most distressing part of your reply is that you clearly acknowledge that ADDICTION kills yet you are so ready to fiercely defend METHADONE when in reality are you not just replacing one addiction with a Methadone addiction.

So maybe you should start blaming Methadone and accept the very real fact that there are loved ones such as my husband and many more than you realize or want to accept who were not addicts and truly knew nothing of the risks associated. My concern is that you may actually believe that Methadone is completely safe and that you somehow are immune to its lethal consequences. Again we are extremely fortunate to have the freedom of choice. What I would kindly ask is that you not post inaccurate and insensitive comments about the use of Methadone and the users of Methadone.

I do apologize for the length of this response but truly believed is was necessary.

Lastly I would like to address your statement regarding not seeing doctors getting sued. Again I can personally attest to the fact that this is an inaccurate statement. Many times the reason you never hear about doctors getting sued is because they settle out of court or in mediation which then does not become public record. For reasons of their own and I do not judge them, the loved ones of many need or accept money instead of following through with legal action. I not only endured endless delays and lived through an emotionally draining arbitration I refused to settle and won a judgment against the doctor and her employer which is public record.

In closing lets hope that the Methadone you so fiercely defend and will defend it until you die does not bring upon your demise sooner instead of later.

Take care

there are between 800,000 & 900,000 (some stats give diff numbers) heroin addicts in the U.S and 1,881 people died from heroin in the U.S. in 2004.

there are 200,000 people on methadone for drug treatment and I don’t have the number of people on it for pain but even if we double the 200,000 and assume it’s 400,000 total people on methadone there were 3,849 deaths in 2004

It looks like the “gold standard” is killing more then the drug its supposed to save people from!!!!

Every day 10.9 people die from Methadone (according to 2004 stats)

We (the families of methadone victims) are requesting new laws surrounding who can prescribe Methadone, clinic rules and regulations as well as stiffer penalties for those caught selling their take home doses. The whole methadone maintenance system needs an overhauling. We cannot continue to allow a legal medication to be killing more people then the illegal drugs. Our government cannot be allowed to use tax dollars to fund their legal drug dealing operations.

We are asking government agencies to enact stricter guidelines in prescribing methadone for any reason. It must be mandatory that all doctors be certified and trained in the pharmacology of methadone; inpatient stays must be required during induction to methadone; all staff be extensively trained in monitoring methadone patients for symptoms of toxicity. Clinic patients should be tested weekly for legal and illegal drugs that are taken with methadone to get “ hi gh” or experience “euphoria” such as benzodiazepines, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, marijuana etc… and face severe consequences or mandatory detoxification from the methadone program after 3 dirty urines. Selling of take home doses must result in termination from methadone program permanently throughout the U.S. When presenting inebriated at clinic, clinic should also document such activity as well as prevent client from driving. Take home doses for all patients receiving methadone should be eliminated thus preventing the risk of diversion or precautions such as pill safe should be implemented. http://www.thepillsafe.com/

Current statistics show that nearly 4000 people a year die from methadone. These deaths are mostly happening to pain management and detoxification patients’ wit hi n the first 10 days of taking initial dose. Most of these deaths are related to methadone prescribed with other medications that react as additives with the methadone. Diversion of methadone is a serious problem because it lands t hi s most deadly drug on streets. Statistics also state that methadone is contributing to more deaths nationwide then heroin and only second to cocaine deaths.

The potential of abuse, diversion, and overdose to new patients being prescribed methadone is overwhelming. The unique properties of methadone, it’s long half life, and it’s negative interaction with numerous drugs make it an optimal choice as a last result treatment for chronic pain and addiction.

Thank you for taking the time to read t hi s letter.

Sincerely

Melissa Zuppardi