TY  - JOUR
T1  - MEthadone overdose deaths rise with increased prescribing for pain
AU  - Kuehn BM
Y1  - 2012/08/22
N1  - 10.1001/jama.2012.9289
JO  - JAMA
SP  - 749
EP  - 750
VL  - 308
IS  - 8
N2  - 
Methadone, which has been used successfully for more than 40 years as a treatment for heroin addiction, has been widely prescribed over the past decade for the treatment of pain. In 2009, more than 4 million prescriptions for methadone were written for pain patients, according to the CDC. As the number of methadone prescriptions for pain has increased, methadone overdose deaths have increased, noted CDC director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, in a press briefing. There are 5000 such overdose fatalities each year, more than the number of heroin and cocaine overdoses combined, he said.

SN  - 0098-7484
M3  - doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.9289
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.9289
ER  -