Methadone Leading Cause of Overdose Victims in Kentucky

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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - A state medical examiner's report says methadone is the prescription drug that was most frequently detected in the blood of fatal overdose victims. Methadone is commonly prescribed for treating patients suffering from chronic pain and medical professionals describe methadone as an effective tool for pain management.

Overdose due to methadone is on the rise in Kentucky as reflected in the State Medical Examiners Annual Report. It lists 197 deaths related to the misuse of the prescription drug methadone last year. Methadone was detected in 41 percent of the 484 overdose death cases in Kentucky.

A recent federal government study found that nationwide methadone-related deaths climbed to more than 38-hundred in 2004 from about 780 in 1999.

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Posted by: bobby Location: beckley wv on May 29, 2008 at 04:50 PM
Methadone is so helpful, you people have no idea. The people dying aren't prescribed methadone. Before i was prescribed methadone I couldnt hold a job, get out of bed, couldn't do anything without a ton of pills. I had "pill heads" in my family and i dispized them, but then i had an accident at work and was put on pain meds , the longer i was on them the more i needed. I never snorted pills or did any other drugs to this day. My pain problem became a pill problem. At the methadone clinic i go to there are people from al walks of life not just trash like you people think. How many alcohol related deaths are there each year? anyone can buy alcohol, at least these clinics have very strict rules. Just look at what else is in these peoples system, cocaine, xanax , its the mixture thats killing these people. They are trying to get high. Methadone taken right is a good thing, and not going to kill anyone. It saved my life, my marriage, and my wallet.

Posted by: scott Location: connersville, IN on Mar 31, 2008 at 09:26 AM
I've got methadone addicts in my family along with other pill heads. them along with all these other (edited) bags lookin for a buzz need to just cast themselves off the face of the earth. you aren't worth anyones time.

Posted by: Shirl Location: Richlands, Va. on Jan 24, 2008 at 03:57 AM
To Jessica: If Methadone is so helpful why have you been on it for 2 years already? Can you not see it is an addiction as well? This is a legal way to sell drugs to people who need to get off other drugs. You need an in-house treatment or you will be on Methadone the rest of your life. Too many people are dyeing from Methadone and it is sad. Please get yourself some other help.

Posted by: Jessica Location: Lexington on Jan 16, 2008 at 06:09 PM
I'm so tired of this being a one-sided issue, finally I can give my comment. This drug,when taken as perscribed is no doubt a LIFE SAVER. I've been taking methadone for 2 years now and it's helped me obtain AND keep a job. I owe my life to this methadone maintenance treatment center. So as long these treatment facilities continue to save lives you stigmatizers need to get used to them being in your cities. Doing drugs DOESN'T MAKE YOU A BAD PERSON.

Posted by: Lacey Location: Spokane, WA on Sep 27, 2007 at 10:47 PM
I know more people that I can count that are NOT druggies and took 1 pill (who weren't pill poppers) and died that day from it. One 10mg. pill is lethal to some people...so it's not just druggies that die from it...it's everyday people. Our youth are taking it and are dying at a devistating rate. If a peice of type of lettuce killed 5 people, or even made them sick - they'd take it off the market. Methadone has killed hundreds, of thousands of people...and the FDA still won't take it off the market...because it is cheap to make. They say money runs the world...this is just another example of how it does. It's very disturbing and we need to do something about it.

Posted by: DARRELL Location: NC on Aug 9, 2007 at 09:56 AM
My 52 year old brother who was addicted to drugs most of his life just died. The death cerftificate read polydrug toxicity methadone/cocaine. He was a heroin user on and off since 15, began using coke when it became popular. My whole family expected this one day but you know something. He never smoked a cigarette in his life and to everyone's utter amazement he kept himself in peak physical condition even while doing drugs. When he died he was 6'2 225lbs of a physically fit drug addict. What is my point. He went for help for the Heroin. I swear the Methadone killed him and if you have an addict in your family and you put them on methadone you might as well be engraving their tombstone. Mix anything with it, even alcohol and eventually you will be saying good-bye sooner than expected.

Posted by: Janet Location: London on Jun 6, 2007 at 03:26 PM
almost any prescription drug can be dangerous if isn't taken right. People are prescribed methadone because they need it. It shouldn't be taken off the market because a bunch of druggies misuse it.

Posted by: Stephanie Location: Va. on Jun 3, 2007 at 10:32 AM
I AM SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING ADVOCATES OF METHADONE WRATTLING ON ABOUT HOW SAFE IT IS. MY BROTHER HAS BEEN PRESCRIBED METHADONE ALONG WITH OTHER OPIATES FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS. HE OVERDOSED ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO BECAUSE OF A MIXTURE OF METHADONE AND COCAINE. WITH RESPONSE TO ZEKE, YOU ARE MISINFORMED FROM YOUR DAUGHTER ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO OVERDOSE ON OTHER DRUGS IF YOU TAKE METHADONE WITH IT. I HAVE NEVER TAKEN METHADONE EVEN THOUGH I HAVE BACK PAIN CONTINUOUSLY BECAUSE OF THE DAMAGE I HAVE SEEN IT CAUSE IN ADDITION TO OTHER NARCOTICS. IF I HAD MY WAY, IT WOULD BE BANNED INDEFINATELY.

Posted by: Laura Location: Arkansas on Jun 1, 2007 at 01:54 AM
I'm tired of only seeing story's on people overdosing on methadone. The media is creating a frenzy. What the story's always fail to mention is that most of the people that overdose on methadone are people who are NOT perscribed the drug and overseen by a very strict clinical regiment. I am a recovering addict. Methadone allows me to live without taking any other drugs whatsoever, even alcohol (which is one of the deadliest drugs and its legal, go figure)... The clinic I go to I am drug screened once a week, I speak with a counselor once a week, I am required to go to 2 in house meetings (in the clinic) and 2 out house meetings per week. If I fail to meet any of these weekly requirements I lose my takeouts (which are the doses of methadone they allow you to take home). How many take outs you get depends on how long you have been attending the clinic and meeting all the requirements without a single mess up. When a patient first starts they must go to the clinic every day and they only get a take home dose on Saturday which is to be taken on Sunday, because thats the only day of the week the clinic is closed. If you do this and live up to all your requirements for 90 days you move up to the next phase where you go to the clinic Mon, Wed

Posted by: Lisa T on May 26, 2007 at 07:05 PM
I want to make a point in saying that if investigated well you will find the methadone that is used to overdose on is just what is in the picture, not what is used in the methadone maintance clinics. Totaly different. Thank you.

Posted by: BAILEY Location: lexington on May 24, 2007 at 05:26 PM
Methadone has been a life saver for me. After years of severe chronic pain due to spinal injury I was finally given Methadone. I can now go about my day in a normal way including teaching. There is no high or fuzzy feeling, just relief from the pain. We need to educate the public, including some who work in drug stores. I'm tired of the look I get when I go to get my perscription filled. I'm not an addict and resent being treated like a second class citizen.

Posted by: Chris Location: Washington DC on May 24, 2007 at 04:31 PM
As Zenith so elequently posted, methadone is a very useful medication when used properly and insurance companies LOVE IT because it is very cheap. Prescribing of this medication has skyrocketed in light of the "oxyconjob" hysteria that swept the country - for some reason Doctors got the idea that methadone was "safer" then oxycodone. But without adequate training for prescribing docs and patients, problems will continue. This is a very long acting medication, but the pain killing properties only last 4-6 hours....so start low, go slow is the way to go when prescribing this medication.

Posted by: Joani Hall Location: floyd county on May 21, 2007 at 12:42 AM
I lost my son to this drug jan 2004.He wasn't prescribed this and from what ia can find out this was probably the 1st time he had taken it.He was only 25 and laid down and went to sleep with his 5 year old son in his arms and never woke up.

Posted by: makesha woods Location: kenton co. on May 19, 2007 at 09:43 AM
if people stop mixing drugs so thay think it will make them higher thay will stop dying

Posted by: richard Location: campbellsville on May 19, 2007 at 09:34 AM
if someone is too dumb or stupid to take their medication properly thats too bad,a story like this implies that methadone is bad and will make it harder for people with legitmate medical problems to obtain the pain meds that they need

Posted by: BRITTNI Location: FLEMINGSBURG KY on May 18, 2007 at 10:19 PM
I WORK FOR A HOSPITAL IN KY AND I HAVE SEEN MANY OVERDOSES AND METHADONES HAVE BEEN FOUND IN MANY OF OUR DRUG SCREENS. PEOPLE ARE NOT ONLY GETTING THESE PILLS FROM THEIR FAMILY DOCTORS THEY ARE ARE ALSO GETTING THEM AT CLINICS FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE GETTING OFF DRUGS BUT THEN BECOME ADDICTED TO METHADONES. WHY DONT WE JUST QUIT GIVING THIS MEDICATION OUT SO MUCH?

Posted by: Zeke Location: Olin on May 18, 2007 at 05:26 PM
Educate the druggies or let then kill themselves. All that is going to happen when the media and other well meaning people start on this is we that are in constant pain will be shut off. My daughter once told me her friends wanted methadone because "when you take it you can`t overdose on whatever else you want to take". I can`t get relief from over the counter drugs, you people are just making it harder on us who need the pain relief (go to a pain clinic sometime and see for yourselves how easy they are to get,you had better take your lunch).

Posted by: zenith Location: austin on May 18, 2007 at 05:01 PM
Methadone can be a highly dangerous drug when abused, mixed with other drugs, or misprescribed by well meaning but uninformed general physicians. This is a unique opiate that has an extra long half life, and its pain killing effects last only a few hours, causing people to feel a need for more before it is even halfway gone from their systems. Also, many young people will take more and more of the drug seeking a high that methadone does not give, and thus overdose. A great improvement in education, both for patients/families and physicians, needs to take place. Methadone deaths have skyrocketed in conjunction with its increased use as a painkiller after the oxycontin scandal several years ago. Methadone can be a VERY useful and uniquely efficacious medication, both for pain and addiction treatment, but it requires judicious observation during induction, and stringent education for all involved.

Posted by: kay Location: london,ky on May 18, 2007 at 03:16 PM
if the medication is used right is it a a good drug to be on if it is used for chronic pain or getting others off of other medications. THANK YOU

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