Categorising methadone: Addiction and analgesia.

Int J Drug Policy. 2013 Jun 11;
Keane H

While methadone was first developed as an analgesic, and used for this purpose before it was adopted as a therapy for drug dependence, it is this latter use which has saturated its identity. Most of the literature and commentary on methadone discusses it in the context of methadone maintenance therapy (MMT). But one of the effects of the liberalization of opiate prescription for chronic pain which took place in the 1990s was the re-emergence of methadone as a painkiller. This article examines the relationship between methadone the painkiller and methadone the addiction treatment as it is constituted in recent medical research literature and treatment guidelines. It highlights the way medical discourse separates methadone into two substances with different effects depending on the problem that is being treated. Central to this separation is the classification of patients into addicts and non-addicts; and pain sufferers and non-pain sufferers. The article argues that despite this work of making and maintaining distinctions, the similarities in the way methadone is used and acts in these different medical contexts complicates these categories. The difficulties of keeping the ‘two methadones’ separate becomes most apparent in cases of MMT patients also being treated for chronic pain.
HubMed – Methadone

Latent tuberculosis among injection drug users in a methadone maintenance treatment program, Taipei, Taiwan: TSPOT.TB versus tuberculin skin test.

Scand J Infect Dis. 2013 Jul; 45(7): 504-11
Yen YF, Hu BS, Lin YS, Li LH, Su LW, Chuang P, Lin NC, Jiang XR, Shie YH, Chang HH, Ou WX, Zhan HJ, Yang W, Yen MY

Abstract Background: Taiwan has a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic that has recently shifted to an increase among injection drug users (IDUs). IDUs co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) have a high risk of progression from latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) to active TB. Methods: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of LTBI among IDUs by TSPOT.TB and tuberculin skin test (TST), in a large methadone program in Taipei, Taiwan. Consenting participants were interviewed by a trained worker regarding sociodemographics, substance use history, and health factors. Results: Multivariate analysis was used to determine risks associated with each test outcome. Of 287 participants, 165 (58.7%) tested TSPOT.TB-positive and 244 (85.0%) tested TST-positive. The mean age was 44 y, and 7.3% were HIV-infected. Kappa statistics indicated slight concordance between TSPOT.TB and TST. In multivariate analysis, after controlling for potential confounders, TSPOT.TB positivity was significantly associated with age ? 50 y (reference, 20-34 y). A history of ever having had contact with a TB-infected person was associated with TST positivity, whereas HIV infection was inversely associated with TSPOT.TB positivity and TST positivity. Conclusions: This study shows a high prevalence of LTBI in individuals at risk for HIV infection in Taipei, Taiwan. Future TB prevention programs should particularly focus on IDUs.
HubMed – Methadone

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