Treating chronic heroin addicts with a prescribed version of the drug is more effective and less costly than methadone, says a recent study.
“Usually when something is more effective, it also costs more,” said Aslam Anis, the lead researcher and health economist at the University of British Columbia. “What we found was that the new option, diacetylmorphine (medically prescribed heroin), costs less than methadone and is more effective.”
The drug itself is more expensive than methadone-maintenance therapy.
However, after calculating health-care savings, quality of life, life expectancy and decreased criminal behaviour, medically prescribed heroin ends up being more cost-effective over time.
“The cost benefit is more indirect,” Anis said.
He adds that prescribed heroin is more successful simply because patients are able to stay on the treatment longer, giving them less of an opportunity to relapse.
“When they relapse they do street drugs, they engage in criminal activity and risky behaviour, which ends up causing them to contract HIV infection or other health problems.”
This was the first type of prescribed-heroin clinical trial to be conducted in North America.
The study looked at 252 patients from Vancouver and Montreal, who have been addicts for at least five years and tried methadone-maintenance therapy at least twice but failed.
The research was collected from the North American Opiate Medication Initiative in Vancouver from 2005 to 2008, along with drug data from B.C.
Researchers used a cost-effective analysis to compare treatments over a one-, five- and 10-year period.
“It has cost savings yet it provided better outcomes. It’s a no-brainer,” Anis said. “If (the government) were able to review this data, I’m sure they would feel compelled to act on it.”
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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