The New York Times reported Sunday that Methadone has become the fastest growing cause of narcotic death, quickly surpassing Oxycontin and Vicodin, two widely prescribed pain killers.
The drug has become popular with doctors and patients, reports say, because it is long-lasting and inexpensive. However, prescribers of the narcotic must be aware of the rate at which the drug is metabolized into people's systems.
Methadone effects different people in different ways, so it is very important that health care providers closely monitor their patients who take the drug. Too high of doses too fast is harmful, and when Methadone is mixed with other narcotics or alcohol it greatly increases the chance of death.
The number of Methadone deaths is rising, an indication of the growing severity of the problem.
According to The New York Times, in Florida in 2007, deaths from Methadone reached 785, up from 367 in 2003. In most of those cases other drugs and alcohol were present in the deceased's system.
Methadone can cause death by slowing one's breathing enough that it eventually becomes so weak as to cause death.
Methadone is also considered habit forming, and a patient may feel withdrawal symptoms if he or she stops taking the drug abruptly.
The insurgence of Methadone users and deaths is comparable to the Oxyontin crisis of the 1990's, when many began using the strong pain killer as a recreational drug, leading to overdoses and addictions for many of its users, according to Times reports.
Many in the health care profession agree that doctors may need to take a course on how to properly prescribe narcotics to ensure they inform their patients accurately about dose levels that could be dangerous to them.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, between 1970 and 2002 there were 1,114 cases of methadone-associated deaths in adults (an average of 35 per year) reported. But in 2001 alone, more methadone-associated deaths were reported than in the nine years between 1990 and 1999. In 2002 that number doubled again.
The numbers of methadone related deaths have continued to increase each year since, the agency reports.
