“Methadone related deaths continue their upward trend in many areas across the
Country. Currently Methadone is the #2 Killer Drug in the United States”, say
HARMD, Inc. (Helping America Reduce Methadone Deaths).
“We’re most concerned that Methadone deaths in United States have risen 389.7% from 1999 to 2004, and that this epidemic is ongoing”, as heard from members who are building HARMD, Inc.’s multi-state data base.
Sadly, HARMD, Inc.’s petition against this hidden killer is all too busy with fresh signatures being added daily as more regular people enter into the nightmare that often accompanies the increased dissemination of this drug.
Methadone is used as replacement therapy for illicit opiate addictions, and can assist chronic pain sufferers. It is supposed to be tightly regulated on all fronts, but that is not the reality.
So what might happen when a cheap powerful drug is converted from medicinal use into a popular recreational drug?
Art Streppa from North Carolina knows first hand because when his son, Arran, bought liquid Methadone from a clinic patient, he was dead within hours.
In Warminster, PA Matthew Schalk was pursuant to this, arrested, and charged with 6 drug offenses after selling his take home doses to an undercover officer on 3
occasions, court records show.
“These take home doses are too freely entrusted to Methadone patients. When selling occurs, it hurts the integrity of the program and puts the community at risk “, notes Melissa Zuppardi (HARMD, Inc., Director).
“We’re disappointed that the allegedly lethal dealing activity of a local man, this menace who has continued to regularly offend, is still a welcome paying patient at a PA Methadone Clinic”.
“This is like handing a convicted murderer a gun and telling him to play nicely from now on. It’s giving credit where none is due”, said Zuppardi,
Spokeswoman for HARMD Inc.
HARMD, Inc. is a National support organization of families who have lost a loved one to Methadone, and who advocate stricter regulations around the supply of Methadone and more consistent penalties for those caught selling this drug.
Martha (Marti) Hottenstein has been appointed the Diversion Specialist for HARMD, Inc. in light of research indicating that much harm stems from a flood of the drug landing on our streets.
“Why is it our right to wake up in cold sweats knowing we must work the next day to pay more taxes to help support these clinics that aid and abet patients to go forth and kill our children?”
“The Methadone dealer has more rights than the victims,” per all victim accounts.
Marti is concerned that “The police and SAMHSA don’t seem to care about these deaths the way they would ones caused by recidivist drunk drivers”.
Through her HARMD, Inc. work, she says she files cases daily from other families who lost their loved ones from this frequently occurring type of diversion and little is done to stop it.
A Maryland Study indicated that 10 percent of clinic drug is on-sold, a stunning quantity.
“Diversion is dangerous yet these killers continue recidivism”. We’d not tolerate it from crack dealers, so the question must be asked as to why we let these Methadone dealers fly below the radar?” notes HARMD Inc.’s Diversion Specialist.
HARMD, Inc. says “it’s unacceptable that in Streppa’s case, the alleged Methadone dealer was not even arrested by police after his son’s death”.
“Where is the justice for my son being gone? Its business as usual in the clinics and on the streets for these people,” Streppa rails. “In speaking with law enforcement this week, I was told they know what is going on in the clinics but they are constrained to do anything about it”.
“I believe all of our members would like accountability from the authorities and the clinic hierarchy as to just what good that man’s still holding a prescription is doing for society,” says an incredulous Zuppardi.
“Where are the rights for the families that buried their children and those who will tomorrow due to uncontrolled diversion?” asks Martha Hottenstein.
Most HARMD, Inc. mothers who have approached clinics to seek accountability are given short shrift. But this issue is not to just a few unlucky hysterical Moms getting vocal about a rare phenomenon.
PA figures just released to HARMD, Inc. reveal that in 2006, there were 325 deaths attributed to Methadone (not all counties have reported).
In North Carolina, there were 327 deaths (not all counties have reported).
“Each of these statistics represents a real and loved family member’s death and don’t think it can’t happen to you, as bulletproof teens will often think they might get away with something just the one time,” says Mary Haynes, Vice President of HARMD, Inc.
Although diversion appears to be the major cause of destruction of families by Methadone, about half of HARMD Inc.’s membership have lost someone who was prescribed Methadone under supervision of a Physician.
This is due to the drug’s dangerous clinical profile, one that sets it apart from safer opiates like Morphine and even the Heroin it often replaces.
Special issues like a narrow window between therapeutic and fatal doses and the potential for cardio-toxicity in many users, mean that prescribers require a high level of training and skill.
Growing awareness of these problems is resulting in several major lawsuits being prepared. These may result in class action lawsuits against the manufacturers which have battled against stronger FDA warnings.
They’ve also taken no steps to prevent possible misrepresentation from groups of Methadone advocates, who claim the product is safe for all organs, when cardio-toxicity is established.
HARMD, Inc. helps to raise public awareness and is a strong advocate for stopping this carnage, as they appeal to the Government to make drastically needed changes in the way in which Methadone is prescribed and dosed.
Anyone interested in this issue is invited to view a petition, begun by HARMD, Inc.’s founding members, which aims to stop Methadone deaths via practical measures. The petition can be accessed at www.HARMD.org.
The story of Art Streppa’s son and his demise as a result of Methadone is available on the website as well. Also included are many other unfortunate realties, recommended reading for all teens as even if they are not at risk, a friend might be.
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Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackBefore we even begin, we would like to extend our heart-felt condolences to all of the families who have lost a loved one due to the diversion of Methadone. We are not here to put down anything that the members of HARMD have done. Not at all. We are simply here to share with everyone something that has recently come to light.
We are simply here to see that the truth is told.
Although some members of HARMD and some Methadone patients have had differences, there is one thing that they have agreed upon, and that is the diversion of Methadone must be investigated to find where it is coming from. We want everyone to understand that we have sat quietly these past months while the organization known as HARMD have spoken about diversion of Methadone, and stating that the diversion is most definitely coming from the Methadone clinics and/or the chronic pain Methadone patients, either directly or indirectly. And because of those beliefs, they have been working to have some rights taken away, including the right of take-home medication, which is earned by the patient. If this earned right was taken from the clinic patients, parts of their lives would be halted, having to come to the clinic every single day, never being able to leave town with their families, nor planning a family vacation, and for many, always spending holidays at home instead of away at relatives homes.
We knew in order to prove them wrong about Methadone diversion, we would need some documented research by an undisputable source.
And we found it!
His name is David Joranson, and he is the Director of the Pain and Policy Studies Group, Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, Wisconsin.
Although Mr. Joranson is extremely easy man to speak with, we can’t believe that some of his research and studies concerning the Diversion of certain opiates could have made him very happy. For example, in November of 2005, he released an exploratory study which revealed that within a 4 year period, from 2000 through 2003, nearly a HALF OF A MILLION doses of Methadone were diverted, and that only included 22 states, which is only 53% of the U.S. Population. No need to rub your eyes, you read it right. And where were these 454,503 doses of Methadone diverted from? Well, from an important but mostly overlooked diversion source which includes theft, including armed robberies, night break-ins, and employee and customer pilferage. You see, the Controlled Substance Act makes thefts of controlled substances from Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registrants a federal crime, and requires pharmacists, manufacturers, and distributors to report significant thefts and losses. If that was the number three years ago, can you IMAGINE what it would be now?
Mr. Joranson Stated:
“Diversion of this type occurs at places in the drug supply chain above the level of prescribing,dispensing and patient use, and involves individual and organized criminal activity by persons who aren’t licensed or registered to handle controlled substances, and therefore would not be detected by programs that monitor prescribing.” http://www.painpolicy.wisc.edu/publicat/05jpsm/press_release.pdf
“We conclude that pain medications,regardless of schedule, are being stolen from the drug distribution chain prior to being prescribed,
contributing to their illicit availability, abuse,and associated morbidity and mortality.National discussion about pain medication abuse
and diversion should be better informed by reliable information about whether abused drugs are coming from those registered to handle
controlled substances lawfully or from those who engage in criminal activities.”
“If we accept uncritically that drug diversion stems only from prescriptions, we risk distorting our view of the medical profession and patients through a lens of substance abuse, which further weakens physicians’ desire to treat pain and worsens patient access to pain care. We must eliminate the impact of illegal actions on law-abiding physicians and patients.” http://www.painpolicy.wisc.edu/publicat/05jpsm/05jpsm.pdf
So, where do we go from here? Surely, we should all want to step back and perhaps take a different look at what we’re seeing at the Methadone Clinics as well as the from the Chronic Pain Patients.
Will this make HARMD take a second look? We surely hope so, because tunnel vision helps no one. Seeing the whole picture in a different light sometimes makes for a whole new picture.
~Rita F
~Donna K.
Medical Assisted Treatment of America, Inc.
I have been working for a long time trying to reduce diversion. I have sought to get information about the dangers of selling or giving methadone to persons who have no idea of the dangers involved in this wonderfully effective medication. I have suggested warning labels, education of pain and maintenance patients as to why methadone kills, patient involvement in talking to other patients, wide desimination of posters and earnings, patient public involvement, and the involvement of various organizations. We still do not seem to have an effecytive pamphlet, poster, and warning label that tells why and how diverted methadone kills.
These sites are currently available to see some of my recent work on this issue.
http://thehonorableoppositiontomethadone.blogspot.com/
http://methadonediversion.blogspot.com/
http://methadonediversionbypainpatients.blogspot.com/
http://w w w .thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/360731625
Methadone Patients Against Hysteria and Further Restrictions
——————————————————————————–
We are Methadone Patients, Providers, Families and Friends AGAINST the Hysteria which is calling for Further Restrictions on the Prescribing of Methadone.
There has been much written of late about the rise in deaths due to the abuse of Methadone. We lament these deaths, but feel that there has arisen an hysteria that proposes to restrict futher the prescription of this life-saving medication to the detriment of the 250,000 patients who receive this drug daily in addiction treatment programs across the United States. An overdose due to a person’s recreational use of illicitly obtained methadone is NOT the fault of the drug, but of the person abusing the drug. Accidental overdoses by persons legitimately prescribed the drug for pain management purposes is again, not the fault of the drug, but of medical personnel who may not be educating patients enough to the dangers of such a long-acting analgesic. Deaths due to the recreational abuse of the drug lies with the abuser, not the substance.
Methadone when used correctly is an effective and inexpensive pain medication. In addiction treatment programs, methadone acts as endorphin replacement for the damaged brain chemistries brought about by long term exposure to opiates. It has been utilized safely and scrutinized closely for five decades, and has been declared the “gold standard” for opiate addiction treatment by our government’s National Institutes of Health. It is also the most closely regulated drug in existance when used for this purpose. Investigations over the last three years by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration has shown that illicit methadone on the streets of America originates in pain management programs and NOT addiction treatment facilities.
Methadone SAVES lives! There are a quarter of a million patients receiving it daily in addiction treatment facilities across America who will attest to that fact. It is safe when used properly, and effective in the endorphin replacement therapy needed by these patients. We the undersigned wish to implore the Federal Centers for Substance Abuse Treatment(CSAT) to not fall victim to the hysteria presently surrounding this drug.
An overdose death is always lamentable, but let’s not “throw the baby out with the bathwater” and keep any changes to the offending areas of distribution. That is NOT the opiate addiction treatment programs of America.
__________________________________________
PLEASE….be sure to read the comments by each of the signatures. They tell the TRUE stories of how lives have been effected.
thanks so much!…….Carol
http://w w w .thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/360731625
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MethadoneSupport.org
MethadoneSupport.org/forum.html
I just lost my oldest son(18yrs old) to methadone on 6-9-07. The kids out there think that if a doctor prescribes a drug that it is safe. This is totally wrong. Methadone interacts with other drugs and sometimes it is lethal. My son would be starting college in August, he was a star athlete in baseball and football last year. Now he is dead….No directions on taking this drug comes off the streets…My advice for everyone is to stay away from taking this drug. Doctors are prescribing it and people are selling the pills on the streets……If i was an alcoholic would a doctor give me beer in place of whiskey??????? Basicly thats what they are doin, instead of heroin-they give methadone…. It is also about making a dollar-by selling this on the streets. Get out and get a respectable job….I dont think you trade a successful young mans life for an addict, who normally isnot productive in society…… Tommy Sides
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