Methadone: A Case Study Definition

America has a major problem with opioid addicts, and many facilities are helping the addicts by providing safer options to taking the drugs their bodies crave. Methadone clinics are places where people addicted to opioids can receive medicine-based therapy. Opioid use, drugs such as heroin, morphine, and prescribed painkillers, has increased in the US with all age groups and incomes. People become addicted to these drugs when they are prescribed, recreationally used with other addicts, or they are born addicted. Many health institutions are addressing this issue with an estimated 2.1 million people in the United States suffering from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers in 2012 and an estimated 467,000 addicted

It seems each year that the automobile accidents increase, and there are a high number of death and injuries that follow. Records show that nearly 1.3 million people die in road crashes and 20-50 million are injured. More than half of all traffic death occur among young adults 15-44 years of age( ). Accidents can happen at any time and can be caused by many reasons such as rain, speeding, drug, or alcohol. An automobile accident is what brought the 16-year-old boy to the emergency to be care for by the medical staff there. The patient was seen by the ER staff for several hours, and he was admitted later in the inpatient unit for observation. The next morning when staff tried waking the patient he was died.

Post World War II New York City was faced with a major heroin epidemic with over 151,000 names listed in the Narcotics Register (Herman). As a medical response, methadone was developed to treat heroin addiction (Herman). Today methadone maintenance treatment has grown to become a popular therapy for drug addiction as well as pain management. Methadone has helped many people to create new lives for themselves, yet there is still debate over the success of this program. Methadone assisted treatment should be seen as an effective program in combating opioid addiction due to its health and social benefits for both users and the community.

Methadone is a synthetic opioid drug which was first used in World War II for the treatment of pain. Since then, methadone has become a popular choice for treating those addicted to other opioid drugs such as heroin, oxycodone, morphine, and hydrocodone. It is used to reduce dependency and the treatment should help them become clean. Even though, the policy of giving methadone to drug addicts is not a cure, it is a good one. Fortunately, the Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) is a reliable way for those with an opioid addiction to stop and not restart the use of opioids. For many, methadone treatment provides an opportunity to regain balance in both lifestyle and priorities. (“Opiate Addiction and Treatment Resource”). Everyone deserves

Methadone is a synthetic (man-made) narcotic. There is a chemical in methadone known as opioid. Methadone is a depressant and can cause symptoms as such as sweating, itchy skin, and sleepiness. “When the use of this drug is stopped it causes withdrawal symptoms as such as anxiety, muscle tremors, abdominal cramps” and etc (dea.gov).

The purpose of this briefing memo is to provide recommendations to Council of City ABC on certain aspects it may or may not include in its zoning provisions with regard to methadone clinics and dispensaries. In the following sections I will provide my input on the provisions laid out by council.

69,000 patients in substance abuse treatment revealed that methadone was fourth for risk of abuse out of 11 opiate based prescription drugs. Worse, after adjustment for prescriptions, methadone advanced to the number one position for abused compounds. Even more startling was a simple random population sample, surveyed by telephone, which reported methadone as the second most used drug. However, Butler et al. cite a major limitation in that the data examined came from subjects who had entered treatment for substance use disorders. Like Plater et al. (2012) aside from the telephone survey, they were unable to examine data for abusers not in treatment (2011).

Methadone has been used since the late 1960s to treat heroin addictions. Methadone is a synthetic opioid that is highly addictive and is harder to withdraw from than heroin. Despite 50 years of experience and widespread acceptance by addiction specialists and health agencies, Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) has sometimes been publicly controversial in the U.S. and other countries. MMT is a program in which addicted individuals receive daily doses of methadone as part of a broad, multicomponent treatment plan (Methadone Maintence Treatment, 2002). Critics argue that methadone doesn’t actually help heroin addicts, but just replaces heroin with an equally addictive methadone (Mason, 2013). From my perspective, methadone should not be given to heroin addicts because it does not

Methadone misuse leads to flash visual evoked potentials in newborns. In the article by McGlone, Hamilton, McCulloch, Boulton, Bradnam, Weaver, & Mactier (2013), they conduct a study about mothers who abuse drugs and are prescribe methadone and end up misusing the methadone. The infants of the women end up being born with abnormal flash VEPs. The researchers concluded that the abnormality is due in part to the prescribed methadone and not the other drugs that these women were abusing. A control group was implemented to compare the flash VEP with healthy, drug free infants. It is also concluded that methadone binds to ocular as well as to brain tissues, which explains why it has an adverse effect on the infants visual and neurologic development.

During the last seven months whilst working at a men’s shelter (Cornerstone Community Association, in the heart of Oshawa, which some may say is the drug capital of the Durham Region) many of the shelter guests (men who stay in the shelter) have disclosed being on the methadone maintenance program, stating as a result of being addicted to opioid drugs. I have chosen to write about this psychoactive drug because I want to explore, become more knowledgeable and more confident when talking about this complex drug.

It has a greater treatment retention than detoxification, 439 days for methadone treatment vs 174 days for detoxification method (Sees, Delucchi, Masson, Rosen, Clark, Robillard et al., 2000).

Besides preventing withdrawal, methadone treats the mom’s opioid addiction. About 70% of pregnant opioid addicts will relapse back to illicit opioid use (heroin or pain pills not prescribed to them) if they are taken off methadone. We also know that women enrolled in a methadone treatment program are much more likely to get prenatal care, and babies born to moms on methadone have higher birth weights than mothers in active addiction. If the mother is dosed with methadone, the baby is much less likely to be exposed to infectious agents like HIV and hepatitis from shared needle use. The baby also won’t be exposed to adulterants that can cause fetal damage, if heroin is being used.

Methadone is one of the most common medications used to treat opioid addiction. It decreases the symptoms of opioid withdrawal and inhibits the euphoric effects caused by abusing heroin and prescription opioids such as oxycodone. When used as prescribed and under the supervision of a trained physician, methadone is an effective complement to treatment. SAMHSA also recommends patients remain on methadone treatment for at least 12 months. Many people require multiple years of treatment. When discontinuing methadone treatment, patients should slowly taper off of it under doctor supervision. Buprenorphine decreases the potential for opioid abuse, reduces withdrawal symptoms and cravings and decreases the risks of overdose. Because buprenorphine

Current medications that can be used to treat opioid disorders include methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. Patients who are addicted to heroin and narcotics have been treated with methadone for years. In 1937, methadone was synthesized by the german scientist Max Bockmuhl and Gustav Erhart (18). They created the drug in hopes that I will be less addictive then your typical pain killers, although some believe it can be more addictive than heroin (18). While taking this drug it is recommended to be a part of a comprehensive medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program for optimal results. By changing how the brain and nervous system react to pain, methadone can make opioid withdraw; less painful (13). It is taken once a day and can be given

For this assignment I choice to do Methadone. I found my information through the following; Websites, New articles, Health Unit, Drug References and magazines. Methadone is a high alert drug it is use to teat many different disorder such as Symptoms from Stopping Treatment with Opioid Drugs, Narcotic Addiction, Severe Pain, Chronic