An investigation of medical examiner cases in which methadone was detected, Harris County, Texas, 1987-1992

Journal of Forensic Sciences

Volumn 41, Issue 3, 1996, Pages 442-448

  Barrett, Drue H ^a,b   Luk, Andrew J ^a   Gibson Parrish, R ^b   Stephen Jones, T ^c  

^a U S PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE   (United States)

^b NATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH   (United States)

^c CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION   (United States)

Author keywords

death; drug abuse; forensic pathology; forensic science; forensic toxicology; methadone; mortality; opiate abuse

Indexed keywords

ALCOHOL; METHADONE;

ADULT; AGED; ARTICLE; AUTOPSY; CAUSE OF DEATH; DRUG BLOOD LEVEL; DRUG INTOXICATION; FEMALE; HUMAN; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; METHADONE TREATMENT; MORTALITY; PRIORITY JOURNAL;

EID: 0029989049     PISSN: 00221198     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1520/jfs13932j     Document Type: Article

References (37)

1. Committee for the Substance Abuse Coverage Study, Division of Health Care Services, Institute of Medicine. Gerstein DR, Harwood HJ, (editors). Treating drug problems. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1990:136-54.
2. Joe GW, Lehman W, Simpson DD. Addict death rates during a four-year posttreatment follow-up. Am J Publ Health 1982;72:703-09.
3. Cushman P, Jr. Ten years of methadone maintenance treatment: some clinical observations. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 1977;4(4):543-53.
4. Cushman P, Jr. Morphine and methadone maintenance clinics [letter] N Engl J Med 1981;305(8):446.
5. Gronbladh L, Ohlund LS, Gunne LM. Mortality in heroin addiction: impact of methadone treatment. Acta Psychiatr Scandinav 1990; 82(3):223-27.
6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Food and Drug Administration. Methadone in maintenance treatment of narcotic addicts: joint revision of conditions for use. Federal Register 1993;58(3):496.
7. Cooper JR. Methadone treatment and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. JAMA 1989;262:1664-68.
8. Harding-Pink D. Opioid toxicity - methadone: one person's maintenance dose is another's poison [letter]. Lancet 1993;341:665-66.
9. Greene MH, Luke JL, Dupont RL. Opiate overdose deaths in the District of Columbia: methadone-related fatalities. J Forensic Sci 1974;19:575-84.
10. Manning T, Bidanset JH, Cohen S, Lukash L. Evaluation of the abuscreen for methadone. J Forensic Sci 1976;21:112-20.
11. Drummer OH, Opeskin K, Syrjanen M, Cordner SM. Methadone toxicity causing death in ten subjects starting on a methadone maintenance program. Am J Forensic Med Pathol 1992;13(4):346-50.
12. Gardner R. Methadone misuse and death by overdosage. Br J Addiction 1970;65:113-18.
13. Segal RJ, Catherman RL. Methadone - a cause of death. J Forensic Sci 1974;19:64-71.
14. Robinson AE, Williams FM. The distribution of methadone in man. J Pharmacy Pharmacol 1971;23:353-58.
15. Goodman GA, Goodman LS, Gilman A, editors. The pharmacological basis of therapeutics, Macmillan, New York, 1990:533.
16. McBay AJ. Toxicologic findings in fatal poisonings. Clin Chem 1973;19(4):361-65.
17. Verebely K, Volavka J, Mule S, Resnick R. Methadone in man: pharmacokinetic and excretion studies in acute and chronic treatment. Clin Pharmacol Therapeutics 1975;18:180-89.
18. Hunt D. Methadone deaths fuel state inquiry - 10 in city died during year period. Houston Chronicle, May 1, 1991, Section A:1.
19. Hunt D. 30 deaths tied to methadone since 1989 - takehome policy blamed for overdoses of legal drug. Houston Chronicle, July 14, 1991, Section A:1.
20. Hunt D. Methadone clinic shut in raid here. Houston Chronicle, March 3, 1992, Section A:1.
21. Hunt D. Deaths from methadone reach record '91 pace nearly doubles opiate fatalities here. Houston Chronicle, March 29, 1992, Section A:1.
22. Hunt D. DEA shuts down doctor's second methadone clinic. Houston Chronicle, April 28, 1993, Section A:17.
23. Olsen GD, Wilson JE, Robertson GE. Respiratory and ventilatory effects of methadone in healthy women. Clin Pharmacol Therapeutics 1981;29:373-80.
24. Wu C, Henry JA. Death of heroin addicts starting on methadone maintenance [letter]. Lancet 1990;335(8686):424.
25. Irey NS, Froede RC. Evaluation of deaths from drug overdose: a clinicopathologic study. Am J Clin Pathol 1974;61(6):778-84.
26. Kreek MJ, Garfield JW, Gutjahr CL, Guisti LM. Rifampicin-induced methadone withdrawal. N Engl J Med 1976;294:1104-06.
27. Tong TG, Pond SM, Kreek MJ, Jaffery NF, Benowitz ML. Phenytoin-induced methadone withdrawal. Ann Int Med 1981;94:349-551.
28. Tong TG, Benowitz ML, Kreek MJ. Methadone-disulfiram interaction during methadone maintenance. J Clin Pharmacol 1980;10: 506-13.
29. Perera KMH, Tulley M, Jenner FA. The use of benzodiazepines among drug addicts. Brit J Addiction 1987;82:511-55.
30. Cushman P. Perspectives on the pharmacotherapy of opiate addiction. Drug Alcohol Dependence 1983;11(1):87-93.
31. Monforte JR. Some observations concerning blood morphine concentrations in narcotic addicts. J Forensic Sci 1977;22(4):718-24.
32. Spiehler J. Computer-assisted interpretation in forensic toxicology: morphine-involved deaths. J Forensic Sci 1989;34(5):1104-15.
33. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heroin-related deaths -District of Columbia, 1980-1982. MMWR 1983;32(25):321-24.
34. Ruttenber AJ, Luke JL. Heroin-related deaths: new epidemiologic insights. Science 1984;226:14-19.
35. Wolff K, Hay A, Raistrick D. High-dose methadone and the need for drug measurements in plasma. Clin Chem 1991;37(9):1651-64.
36. Baselt RC, Cravey RH. Disposition of toxic drugs and chemicals in man, 3rd Edition. Year Book Medical Publishers, Chicago, 1989:512-17.
37. Baden MM. Methadone-related deaths in New York City. Int J Addiction 1970;5(3):489-98.