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On June 24th 2006 I lost my fiancé (Ron) to this deadly drug prescribed by a physician with a combination of other medications that acted as additives to the Methadone. He had knee surgery and became addicted to the percocet he was prescribed. He checked himself into Greenleaf Center in Valdosta, GA for detoxification. Upon entering the facility he was drug tested and did not come up positive for opiates (he had stopped taking the percocet 4 days before entering the facility). "Dr." Nitin Patel prescribed him 60 mg of Methadone for addiction, valium, Klonopin, and restoril (all CNS depressants). "Dr." Patel is NOT licensed to prescribed Methadone for addiction treatment and neither is Greenleaf Center. On the fourth day in detox he died sometime between 2am and 1pm in the afternoon (he was never checked on in all of those hours). The night before he died he was complaining of migraines and vomiting, apparently the staff thought he was still experiencing withdrawals and was not concerned about these symptoms. The symptoms of methadone toxicity mimic withdrawal symptoms physicians and staff must be very cognizant of the complex properties and metabolization of methadone. There were many errors made in my fiancé’s death including the fact that he was given numerous amounts of additive medications such as benzodiazepines. He had only been taking percocet for about 4 months and according to the DSM IV he wouldn’t be an appropriate candidate methadone maintenance treatment. I'm not sure if Ron was given methadone for the sole purpose for detoxification from opiates or if it was a combination of pain relief associated with numerous surgeries and opiate addiction. Methadone is difficult to properly dose no matter what reason it's being used for and primarily relies on the patient’s indications of how they feel (assumedly they are being monitored). There are ways to make the administration of methadone safer, it's just a matter of putting the focus on this drug and the deadly consequences when administered incorrectly or not monitored. Ron was 32 years old and has 2 children from a previous marriage that now do not have a father.

Methadone is now the #2 Killer Drug in the U.S. This is a legal drug that has been thought to be safe for the past 40 years. Only recently when its use became approved for pain management patients has the cardio toxic risks emerged. Previously methadone has been used exclusively for replacement therapy for heroin patients and death was thought to be an effect of the accumulation of many years of drug abuse. With the surge in pain medication misuse and abuse more patients are being referred to methadone clinics and physicians treating pain who believe the myth that methadone is safer or non addictive because of it’s use with weaning addicts from heroin. Methadone is more addictive then any other pain medication including heroin and because of it’s extremely long half life, cardio toxic risks, numerous fatal drug interactions, dosages based on tolerance, and small margin of error. Up until Nov 2006 the government and pharmaceutical companies have been suppressing the numerous health and fatality risks related to methadone.

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, not
including car accident deaths caused by drivers under the influence of Methadone)


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. [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 this letter.

Sincerely

Melissa Zuppardi
Helping America Reduce Methadone Deaths
www.HARMD.org
www.renato-capozzo.memory-of.com

i was addicted to methadone for no good reason other than wanting to be high. thank god i am here today, most in part because of the support of my family. they never gave up on me, and i thank them. i feel sorry for anyones's loss to this horrible, yet controllable disease.

Thank you for sharing this. It will help others to see prescription drugs kill just like street drugs! All those affected by these tragedies have my sympathy.

Special thanks to this courageous mom for sharing her story. This is an encouraging message for others to see, especially at this time of year. The holidays can be difficult for anyone, but families of those suffering from addiction to alcohol or drugs are often under additional stress.

My own son, now in his early 30s, has fought a 15-year battle with methamphetamine. This has been one of his worst years ever, and with nearly four months of sobriety under his belt, only he can win his own battle against relapsing.

I appreciate Faith's comments along with this mom, who remind me never to give up on my son. He has told me the same thing this year.

Alene Archer
[onemothershearttoanother.blogspot.com]

I had a son, move to Heaven, from an overdose of Methadone... He battled addiction for several years, and I thought he was going to make it, but he overdosed during a relapse... I miss him with every beat of my heart... But I'd just like to say that I'm thankful for other Mom's who take a stand and tell the world about this horrible problem going on... Also encouraging parents to NOT give up on their kids... There are beautiful people out there, who've made a couple of bad choices, and are caught up in tormenting addictions... It is literal torment... I'm glad that my son is free of the horrors, but I wish he could have made it on this earth... but God's peace does truly pass understanding, and He will give us the grace to make it through... But it still hurts... God Bless this Mom mentioned in the article, and all of the Mom's who know how she feels...
[gabrielmiller.memory-of.com]

Katie Helms Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had a son, move to Heaven, from an overdose of
> Methadone... He battled addiction for several
> years, and I thought he was going to make it, but
> he overdosed during a relapse... I miss him with
> every beat of my heart... But I'd just like to say
> that I'm thankful for other Mom's who take a stand
> and tell the world about this horrible problem
> going on... Also encouraging parents to NOT give
> up on their kids... There are beautiful people out
> there, who've made a couple of bad choices, and
> are caught up in tormenting addictions... It is
> literal torment... I'm glad that my son is free of
> the horrors, but I wish he could have made it on
> this earth... but God's peace does truly pass
> understanding, and He will give us the grace to
> make it through... But it still hurts... God
> Bless this Mom mentioned in the article, and all
> of the Mom's who know how she feels...
> [gabrielmiller.memory-of.com]

my heart breaks for you. as a parent, i can't believe the selfishness and hurt displayed by me in my time of using. i have many amends to make, and i'm thankful i'm here to do that. i wouldn't wish this disease on anyone.

God Bless those who have suffered the lose of their loved one to this outrageous drug. I have a co-worker that is on methadone.....I didn't even know what it was till she told me she use to drugs. Some of the things I don't understand is why is one drug replaced with another? I mean, I remember when my father, who is an acoholic, had to detox and they just let him go through it....shaking, dillusional, it was terrible but he made it through it. Is there something really differnet here that I don't understand.......is my friend in jeopardy of the drug she takes? She just had a baby not to long ago.....will this stuff make her baby suffer?