Methadone - Addiction

©What's Happening?" September 2007 Inquiring Minds Want To Know©

Wow, where has the summer gone? I’m not sure about all of you, but I have definitely decided that the older I get, the shorter the years are. Well, either that, or I’m just not remembering the days like I used to!

One thing about this past month, is that the news has really been surprising! I am beginning to see so much more positive methadone news, and my thought on that? It's about time! In fact, September brought with a wonderful four part series on the good side of methadone from the Williamson Daily News out of West Virginia. Don't be upset if you missed it, because we are reprinting the four parts here on Medical Assisted Treatment . The first part is already waiting for you to read:

http://www.MedicalAssistedTreatment.org/548338/552795.html

Flatter me, and I may not believe you.

Criticize me, and I may not like you.

Ignore me, and I may not forgive you.

Encourage me, and I will not forget you.

But every one of us know too well that an entire month could never go by without the “nay-sayers” trying to make it harder and harder for us to live our lives in recovery and/or pain free. Take the next article, for instance. This article was, of course, backed by the anti-methadone organization HARMD. While they may agree with the premise of the article, they are forgetting quite a few facts that make this article pretty unbelievable. Thanks to “Zenith” and “Hoss” for their insight. Many things were overlooked, such as:

* Methadone and Buprenorphine are the only effective medications which help with the altered brain chemistry that came about due to the opiate addiction. Long term therapy is essential.

* The coroner needs to decide what's he's speaking about, because within this article, he changes his mind entirely and switches from abuse and diversion, com-ing first from Pain Clinics, and later says it''s the fault of the Methadone Clinics.
Which is it?

* The success rate of people using Methadome returning to society live crime free is 65%. The rate of someone relapsing after they stop taking methadone is 90%. Traditional rehabilitation is 10%. Consider that!

* The coroner talks of methadone causing "respiratory depression" and fatal cardiac arrythmias," but he seems to have forgotten that so do ALL OPIATES.

Testimony prompted by recent deaths on Methadone

INDIANAPOLIS -- Prompted by the unusual number of methadone-related deaths in the county since the beginning of the year, La Porte County Coroner Dr. Vidya Kora testified recently about the need for tougher regulation of the drug.

Kora provided written testimony to the House and Senate Health Finance Committee September 10 in Indianapolis.

“I expressed my concerns. I felt compelled,” Kora told The La Porte County Herald-Argus Thursday of his reason for testifying.

Methadone has contributed to nine deaths in the county so far this year. In the majority of those deaths, said Kora, the methadone was obtained from a clinic as a take-home dose.

“Most of the misuse that happens comes from pain clinics,” he said. “I feel we need to look at how the clinics are functioning to see what we can do.”

Methadone is most often prescribed for the treatment of chronic pain or to ease withdrawal pain for recovering heroin, morphine, OxyContin or opiate addicts.

In Kora’s testimony, he urged the Indiana State Department of Health to mandate that clinics reduce prescribed dosages of the drug every three to six months.“It is our state’s priority to be aggressive to taper them off," he said.

"The federal guidelines are not tight enough."

Kora argued that for-profit methadone clinics do not aggressively wean people off the drug because there is a financial incentive to keep patients addicted.

If that doesn’t change, he said, “we’ll have hundreds of thousands of people on lifelong methadone and that’ll be fatal.”

Methadone can cause severe respiratory depression and fatal cardiac arrhythmias, said Kora. The effects worsen and can be lethal when taken with other sedatives such as Xanax, marijuana or alcohol.

Kora continued to argue that.

“We are basically replacing one (addiction) with another,” he said. “The goal of methadone clinics should be to help people get off their opiate addiction rather than maintaining them on a lifelong addiction to methadone whose long-term effects are largely unknown.”

I’ve never been poor, only broke.

Being poor is a frame of mind..

Being broke is only a temporary situation. ~Mike Todd

Last week, I received a request asking for any information I might have concerning "Rapid Detoxification." Rapid Detoxification is a method employed by some to detoxify a patient with an addiction to opioids. The procedure requires the patient to be under anesthesia, during which the opiates are flushed from the body. The medication used blocks the opiate receptors which are triggered by opiates.

Surprising to me we receive an unusually high amount of mail every week asking if we have information available concerning "Rapid Detoxification." They always ask my opinion and my answer never changes. It is always an absolute "No."

I ask them to "Do your Research and stay away from Garden Grove Hospital in Orange County, California." Now, when I answer their mail I have started always to include an article from "Orange County Register." published 9th September 2007. The article scared me half to death when I first read it, because I had always thought of the Waismann Method, " Rapid Detoxification Method" which is only performed in Orange County and in Israel.

It’s been around for years, but until I read the article, I plan, to share with you, I honestly believed it was for only the rich. Why? Mostly because it cost $15,000 or more. It looks as if I was totally wrong about it. I will let you read and decide for yourself. If any of you had success with"Rapid Detoxification" then we would love to hear from you. We do not recommend it at Medical Assisted Treatment under any circumstances.

“ Freeway billboards advertise the Waismann Method and Bernstein's Web site, which promises a quick recovery from narcotics without the brutal symptoms of sweating, shaking and nausea associated with withdrawal. The procedures are performed exclusively at Garden Grove Hospital.

The patient involved in the accusation, who is identified only as "Gina Y." of Phoenix, received the treatment at the hospital in August 2005. The following day, she had diarrhea, vomiting and a temperature above 100 degrees, according to the Medical Board's accusation.

Bernstein released her to the Domus Retreat for recovery in Anaheim Hills, where she continued to have the symptoms until she left three days later, state officials said. The next day, the patient was admitted to a Phoenix hospital where she was diagnosed with pancreatitis, low potassium levels, an elevated white blood cell count and dehydration.

The Domus Retreat referred questions to Bernstein.

According to the accusation, Bernstein's colleague performed the rapid detox procedure, but Bernstein failed to diagnose the patient's illnesses, order any tests or refer her to another doctor at the time of her discharge.

"I was not the primary physician taking care of her," Bernstein said. "She was fine to discharge. There was absolutely nothing medically wrong with her."

In addition to the detox practice, Bernstein is a board-certified anesthesiologist who also runs Coast Pain Management of Newport Beach. According to his Web site, Bernstein "stresses the judicious use of opiate medications."

But some patients say they became hooked on painkillers Bernstein prescribed and then were encouraged to undergo his rapid detox program.

"It's strange he (prescribes painkillers) and then he has a business that gets people off pills," said Elaine Domino of Newport Beach, who went to Bernstein for pain from a back injury. Of her rapid detox experience, she said: "It knocks you out physically for months. I would never recommend that to anybody."

Domino says that after her detox Bernstein prescribed Klonopin, an anti-anxiety medication that experts say can also be addictive.

In 2005, Domino promoted her experience with rapid detox to the media, including The Orange County Register. Now, she says she regrets acting as a spokeswoman for the program.

"I was on 'Good Morning America,' and I had popped 10 Klonopin in my mouth," she said.

Bernstein said he doesn't routinely prescribe Klonopin and offered another view of Domino's treatment: "I saved her life," he said.

Doctors who prescribe addictive drugs while also running a detox program could give the appearance of building their own patient base, ethicists said.

"On the one hand you could see how the medical expertise could be valuable in treating pain and managing addiction to those medications," said Judith Daar, a law professor who serves on UC Irvine's medical ethics committee. "But if there's an active program to create business opportunities, that's clearly an obvious conflict of interest and it's a significant breach" of trust.

Bernstein said his experience makes him uniquely qualified.

"As a specialist in pain management, I have a very thorough understanding of treating complex chronic pain," Bernstein said. "My experience with detoxification gives me significant insight into the nature of opiate dependency and the risks associated with taking higher doses of opiates. I see no conflict of interest when patients are prescribed a responsible amount of medication. To the contrary, I feel I am more qualified than most physicians to treat chronic pain patients with opiate medications."

Other addiction specialists agree that operating both a pain clinic and a detox program, while rare, is not necessarily a conflict of interest.

"Many addiction medicine doctors are pain management experts, too," said Dr. Michael Stone, medical director of Cornerstone addiction treatment programs of Tustin. "I wouldn't see it as a conflict as long as they're recognizing when some-body has chronic pain or when somebody is taking 30, 40, 50 Vicodin to get high."

Still, Stone and others said that it is rare for a doctor to actually practice both fields. He said he's more concerned about the safety of rapid detox.

"Detox from opiates – done any way but rapid – is not dangerous. It's miserable, but it's not dangerous," he said. "Coming off opiates with the Waismann Method is dangerous."

But Dr. Waismann, who developed his method after witnessing young soldiers in the Israeli army become addicted to narcotics after injuries, said the practice is safe because it employs modern medicine in the safest of environments, an intensive care unit.

Waismann said he does not know the details of the state's accusation but said Bernstein is very competent and knowledgeable. "Maybe Dr. Bernstein made a bad medical decision, but this has nothing to do with the method," Waismann said.

Bernstein and other doctors have performed rapid detox at Garden Grove Hospital for about four years. The hospital declined to comment on Bernstein's methods or its financial agreement with him. A spokeswoman said the hospital treats about 25 rapid detox patients each month.

Rapid detox, which includes Waismann and other anesthesia-assisted methods, has been in use for more than 10 years in the U.S. but remains controversial for its expense, the lack of scientific studies verifying its success and a link to more patient deaths.

The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2005 issued a report that said rapid detox offers no benefit over other detox programs, is not less painful and can be life-threatening. The American Society of Addiction Medicine has said the procedure should not be used because of uncertain risks.

The lure of a pain-free withdrawal plays into patients' and families' desperate hopes for an easy cure, some addiction specialists say.

"Rapid detox is, from a marketing point of view, a very attractive product," said Rick Rawson, associate director of UCLA's Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. "Addicts and their families want to believe there's a quick fix. Yes, you can do an overnight detox. You still have to do all the work to learn how to be a sober person and live a life that will support sobriety."

Rawson said that opiate addiction is traditionally treated with methadone and ongoing intensive therapy, and that there is not enough evidence to show rapid detoxification is a more effective or safe option.

Rapid detox under anesthesia has drawn the attention of medical regulators in the past. The number of doctors offering rapid detox has declined since New Jersey physician Lance Gooberman was suspended in 2003 following the deaths of seven patients. Last year, two Michigan doctors received suspensions after the deaths of three patients.

"This isn't a procedure that has acceptance in the professional community, and there really should be more research before this is sold on the open market," Rawson said.

Bernstein said his method is successful, safe and its detractors just don't under-stand it.

"Most opposition is from professionals that do not understand what I do, or even try to find out," he said. "I am always open to explain our procedure with addiction specialists."

Bernstein has been named in several lawsuits over his pain management and detoxification practices.

In April, the adult children of 54-year-old Candy Street sued Bernstein for wrongful death, alleging she suffered irreversible brain injury after receiving an injection to treat neck pain and headaches.

The complaint states that Street stopped breathing after receiving an injection in Bernstein's office, which had "inadequate and insufficient resuscitation equipment." She was transferred to Hoag Hospital and died 10 days later, the complaint says.

In another case now in binding arbitration, Bernstein is accused of having performed rapid detox on a woman who went off medications for her endocrine disorder and subsequently suffered permanent health damage.

In another suit, a woman who suffered back pain after a 2001 shuttle bus accident alleged that Bernstein and a colleague prescribed so many opiate pain medica-tions that she became addicted and had to undergo the Waismann Method. Her attorney, Federico Sayre, said the case was dropped last year after the woman received a large settlement from the accident.

Bernstein declined to comment on the two pending cases, but he said the latter had no merit.

Bernstein said he's successfully treated more than 2,000 patients in seven years. He said his patients, who typically became hooked on OxyContin or Vicodin after injuries, felt uncomfortable in traditional rehab settings.

I'd send them to a detox center for rehab, and they'd be very upset, saying, 'We're not drug addicts, we don't identify with those people.' "He said treating addiction as a medical condition is a humane way to remove the body's cravings for drugs, when compared to methadone clinics or 28-day rehab stays.

"The Waismann Method is good, common-sense medicine that gets patients off drugs," Bernstein said. "I cannot understand what would be the objection to such treatment when done appropriately by an experienced physician."

Contact the writer: 714-796-6880 or bbernhard@ocregister.com 714-796-3686 or cperkes@ocregister.com

http://www.ocregister.com/news/bernstein-detox-rapid-1841693-pain-waismann

If you believe you can, you probably can.

If you believe you can't, you most assuredly won't.

Belief is the ignition that gets you off the launching pad.

Is it just me, but I feel akin to Columbus and/or even the Astronauts heading out in -to space? It is exactly what we are doing, but in a different way,when we sit down at our computer and turn on the control panel. Who knows what different lands we will discover.

We are really like explorers searching and if we "Google" just the right words, we may find exactly what we were searching for but for some of us we may put in the wrong words and end up discovering hidden treasure where our Internet Explorer takes us.

I want to urge all of you to take some time to explore. If you find any hidden treasure then share it with all of us. We are all here for you but you can always help us discover new material.

I found some interesting information on the one I discovered and I believe most of you will enjoy it. It is your turn to be the "Explorer." If you find any, then please send it to me and I will share it with all the others next month.

You go and be the “Explorer”. You find the hidden treasures waiting to be found.
We would like to hear feedback on how you felt about any of the articles I shared and if you explored the hidden treasure I found. Let us know how you enjoyed it
and if you found any material there you would like to share with us.

More Than Methadone: An Addicts View http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/9740/ceida2.html

Until next month, I wish all of you the best! Be careful, next month and treat - - or you may be tricked. This is Rozi, and I'm sending all of you smiles and hugs. I can always be reached at the address below. You are not alone.

rozi.director@MedicalAssistedTreatment.org

Things are not happening to you . . . things are happening because of you.
-Anonymous

© " What's Happening?" August 2007 Inquiring Minds Want To Know©

Greetings!!! I am back with lots of news. I am not sure what most of you would like to know about. If you would just take the time to let me know what it is, I would be pleased to provide it for you. I did receive this poem from one of our members and it spoke volumes to me. Read it and see what it says to you. If you understand what it is saying, then you know what it has to with you achieving success in staying clean.

You feed the "Evil Wolf" by allowing anger,resentment, self-pity, guilt, sorrow,
inferiority and regret in. Once you allow it in it grow like a cancer until it has taken over you. It will lead you back ....to using and we know it is not what we want.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said,"My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, truth, benevolence,empathy, generosity, compassion and faith.

The grandson thought for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins? The old Cherokee simply replied,"The one you feed."

- Kirk Marshall Davis

Antibiotics will not cause a false positive drug test.

There is a class of antibiotics that may cross react with the opiate screen. The class of antibiotics quinolones (these include levofloxacin, ciprofloxcin, ofloxacin and others) can cause a positive screen, however, confirmation by methods such as GC/MS or LC/MS/MS will be negative.
(JAMA. 2001;286:3115-3119.)
Levaquin product insert, Ortho-Mcneil, Inc. (revised *January 2006)

Some synthetic Opiates such as fentanyl and meperidine, are detected by an Opiate screening test.

Many synthetic opiates are not detected by an opiate screen and must be tested for as a separate drug.

How many of you know which Opiates are synthetic (man-made)? Do you know why it is important to know?

NATURAL (from opium)
* codeine * morphine * thebaine

SEMISYNTHETIC (derived from opium) (half man-made)
* hydrocodone * oxycodone * hydromorphone *oxymorphone * buprenorphine

Synthetic (man-made)
*meperidine * fentanyl series *propoxyphene * methadone

Synthetic/Semisynthetic Opioids:

The most widely used opiate immunoassay detects morphine and codeine, but does not reliably detect semisynthetic opioids, such as oxycodone, oxymorphone,
buprenorphine, or hydromorphone. It is possible that some semisynthetic opioids, even at high concentrations,will be inconsistently detected by the immunoassay because of incomplete cross-reactivity.

Current opiate immunoassays do not detect synthetic opioids, such as methadone. However, GC/MS can reliably identify most opioids when present. If the purpose
behind the test is to document the presence of a prescribed medication such as oxycodone (adherence testing), the laboratory should be informed of this. It is
recommended that the laboratory be instructed to remove the cutoff concentration
(reporting threshold) so the presence of lower concentrations of the prescribed drug can be documented.

This will greatly reduce the risk of missing a drug that is, in fact, present. In a recent study of physician practices and knowledge, however,only 12% of primary care physicians correctly knew that testing for oxycodone must be specifically requested when ordering a Urine Drug Test. Most respondents were unaware that oxycodone is not detected by opiate immunoassays.

Reference: Norchem Drug Testing

Now, let me sum this up for you. Most of the information applies to urine-testing done when you apply for work. They only test for the class of drugs known as
Opiates. If you are taking morphine, codeine or thebaine it will test positive. Why because they are natural opiates, not synthetic. Now if you are taking Oxycontin®, Dilaudid®,Percocet®, Vicodin ES®,Lortabs®,Methadone®,Darvocet®,Fentanyl®, Demerol® or Suboxone® they will not show up positive for Opiates.

I am hoping all of you will remember what I have just shared with you. Now it is different if you are going to a Methadone Maintenance Treatment Facilty because they will test for the medications named above. *** If you are receiving Suboxone, they will test for the above drugs. Please don't get your wires crossed and end up receiving a reprimand or worse.

DEA Mulls Rescheduling
          Hydrocodone
               As
          Problems
             Mount

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is considering moving the opiate painkiller hydrocodone from Schedule III to the more restrictive Schedule II in hopes of better controlling diversion and misuse of the drug, the Associated Press .

Hydrocodone-based drugs like Vicodin and Lortab have become the most popular opiate-based painkillers in the United States:124 million prescriptions for the drugs were written in 2005, with prescriptions increasing more as doctors scared off by the problems associated with oxycodone (OxyContin) switched to hydrocodone for their patients.

Some observers say the looser restrictions on the Schedule III drug --- especially regarding refills --------- have made hydrocodone products ripe for abuse. Legal distribution of the drugs has risen 66 percent since 2001, but hydrocodone also has become the most common pharmaceutical submitted into evidence to forensic labs and the most likely to result in an emergency-room visit.

Hydrocodone distribution is highest in the South, including states like Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Alabama.

"When I started in this field, the primary client was involved with alcohol," said David Bailey of the West Virginia Preven-tion Resource Center. "I wish it were still alcohol. Not that that's not a very dangerous drug, but the addiction (to painkillers) seems to be much more intense ----- much more severe within a shorter period of time."

Experts note, that the hydrocodone problem is national, not regional. And they stress that, bad though it is, the problem of hydrocodone abuse is dwarfed by abuse of illicit opiates like heroin.

Reference: Associated Press Published: 4 August 2007

Kimberly Bucklin of Tazewell, Virginia was sentenced to three years in prison for following her doctor's advice to take methadone to treat an OxyContin addiction. The judge in the case had prohibited Bucklin from taking methadone while on probation for drug possession,the Roanoke Times reported Bucklin's case was reopened at the request of the American Civil Liberties Union and drug-treatment advocates, who called on Judge Henry Vanover to reconsider his decision.

"It really, really is a medical decision and not a legal decision," said Bucklin's attorney, Tom Scott.

Testifying as an expert witness, Dr. Robert Newman, director of the Chemical Dependency Institute of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, said methadone is an effective treatment for opium-based addictions.

Last year, after Bucklin was charged with child abuse and OxyContin possession, she became a methadone patient at the Life Center's satellite clinic in Tazewell County. "I would say her response was dramatic, positive, and very rapid," said Newman.

In June 2003, Bucklin was ordered to discontinue all use of methadone as a condition of her probation and a six-year suspended prison sentence. But after Bucklin began suffering cravings and withdrawal symptoms, the clinic resumed her treatment on the advice of her doctor.

Tazewell County Commonwealth's Attorney Dennis Lee said judges often prohibit individuals on probation from taking methadone at a clinic. But Bucklin is the first person in the county to be sentenced to prison for violating such an order.

Mark Parrino, president of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, said it's wrong for methadone patients to be sent to prison for a treatment that is aimed at helping them beat their addiction.

"Despite the fact that the federal government has spent millions in research to determine that methadone is the gold standard for treating opioid dependence, you still have what I would call unenlightened and misinformed representatives of the law-enforcement community," Parrino said.

Reference: Roanoke Times Published: 21 August 2004

Editor's Note: We at Medical Assisted Treatment wanted to take the time to say "Welcome Home, Kimberly Tazewell. She did survive and we are wishing her the very best in making a fresh start.

What
A
Laugh!

You were born an original. Don’t die a copy. - John Mason


	Methadone Liquid 90mg

You know,I can’t even begin to count the amount of times I have been asked,"How long must I remain on Methadone?" While I would love to have an exact answer to give to them all, I knew I couldn’t.

I knew that by simply saying to them, “Everyone is different, so nobody knows.” is not the answer that I would want if I was asking.

Well, I was reading an article one day, and the person they were asking questions to about addiction sounded so easy to understand, I could hardly believe he was a professor…..(just a joke, I graduated college a short time ago at the age of 47, and I had a great time kidding with a few of mine). So, being as shy as I am…lol….I wrote to the professor and asked him the question that I was always being asked, and here was his reply:

“Most people whether new to methadone or not, wonder how long they should remain in maintenance treatment. Because treatment is individualized for your addiction, the decisions of if and when to come off are unique to you. The Health and Human Services Administration recognizes this, and states the following on the FDA 2635 form that you signed on enrolling in treatment: "I realize that for some patients, narcotic treatment may continue for relatively long periods of time, but that periodic consideration shall be given concerning my complete withdrawal from the use of all narcotic drugs."

I would encourage you to look at these areas to decide when you are ready to try a reduced dose:

Have you stopped using all illicit opiates?
Have you established supportive/stable interactions with non-drug using peers?
Have you put you life together in dimensions such as family, work, spiritual, legal, medical, psychological?
Have you developed appropriate (non-drug using) mechanisms for dealing with potential "roadblocks" to recovery (e.g. depression, anxiety, anger, disputes, health problems)?

Some people will get to the point of reducing sooner than others. The length of time you were addicted and your relative well-being in mind, body, and spirit may determine how long you will be on methadone. I hope this is helpful, good luck in your recovery!

Dr. John Hopper, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine,
Pediatrics, Psychiatry
Medical Director, Clinical Research Division on Substance Abuse, Wayne State University

Well, I can hardly believe we are at the end of yet another month. October is just around the corner. We have been very busy helping people and we are running
behind on publishing "What's Happening?" We ask that all of you be patient with
us because we will eventually get everything running smoothly again.

It is very important to us to get "Whats' Happening?" out to you on time and we do apologize but to us helping patients, requesting our help, is important to us. They must come first. I have started helping with some of the phone calls because we
were being bombarded with so many, two people could not handle all of them.We are in the process now of making some changes on Medical Assisted Treatment to give you more of what you have been asking for and at the same time to make it more interesting .

I hope you all know how much the friends which I have made and the ones I have yet to meet mean to me. Medical Assisted Treatment of America was a dream that was birthed in the heart of a woman that felt the pain all of you have suffered with "Substance-Abuse."She turned it into a reality because she felt called to devote the remainder of her life, to help eliminate the stigma and discrimination we all have suffered at one time or another. I share it with her because I have seen it, too and I want all of you to know I am here for you, just as much as she is. Please share with us as we need your feedback to know what problems you are encountering.

I went through some close calls when I was younger,and some not that many years ago. Many times I should have died during my life. I could never figure out why I was allowed to live. I pondered that question for years and years. I now know what my calling is in life. I now know the reason I am alive. God had it in his plan for me to discover "Medical Assisted Treatment." Once I met the people working on "Medical Assisted Treatment," I knew it was where I belonged. I grew to love the people I work with and I seen how much time they invested in helping others and how much time they took in teaching me. I want to take the time to thank them
for giving me the opportunity to work with them. You will not find anyone more sincere than they are about helping people. I am overjoyed just to be a part of it.

I chose to help them attain their vision and found I was fulfilling my own.

Until Next Month....I'm sending all of you "Lots Of Love." We sincerely care about each and everyone of you. If you are not satisfied with the service we give then please, we would like to hear about it. We want you to know you are not alone. We are all here to assist you in locating treatment suitable for your needs. We are here to give you encouragement and support. We are here just to listen.


	Lots of Love!

Rozi.Director@MedicalAssistedTreatment.org

Hello, everyone. It’s Rozi again. I’m not sure about others,but the time has gone so fast since my recovery began. This is the month my mother was born, and think-ing about that the other day, I could hardly believe that it’s been 10 years since she passed away.The same day, I pulled some writings out of an old filing cabinet, and pulled out the story I had written a short time after she died.

As I pulled it out and read it, I couldn’t help but feel so strange inside. Mom wasn’t here to see me in recovery. She wasn’t here when I returned to school,nor was she around when “my” grandchildren were born.There were just so many things I had accomplished after she died, but there is no sadness. There is no pain. You see, I know in my heart that my Mom had seen it all. I knew my Mom was there for every single one.

I wanted to share with you all the writing I had done about my Mother a very short time after she died. And here you are:

As I close my eyes, I can still smell their sweet fragrance. They were the richest
red I had ever seen. The plush,velvet petals were softer than anything I had felt be-
fore. ~ I could tell without counting them that there were a dozen of the beautiful
roses in my hand. I knew that mom couldn’t afford such an expensive gift.

Although it was my birthday, usually just the well thought out card was what I
received from her, and I was always happy with that. ~ ~ I slowly raised my tear-
stained face and looked up at her. It was then that I suddenly realized how much
she had aged in the past year.Her skin had changed to a somewhat grayish color, and I couldn’t remember ever seeing all the lines she now had on her face. It was at that moment that I knew the cancer had all but consumed her frail, young body.

Now the truth became all too apparent to me; my mom was dying. I could see by look in her beautiful brown eyes that she knew it too. At that instant I knew the reason for the roses. She had never bought roses for me before, although she had named me after the exquisite flower. I knew it was her way of saying goodbye.

We lost her 3 short weeks later. ~As I stood alongside the tree where she was buried on what seemed to be the grayest day of the year,no words was necessary. I simply reached inside my coat pocket with my shaking right hand. ~ At the first touch of the petals, I smiled as I placed the dried and crisp red flowers on to the mound of dirt. I could swear I saw her smile back at me. ~Rozi~

The house we hope to build is not for my generation but for yours. It is your future that matters. *** And I hope that when you are my age, you will be able to say, as I have been able to say—We lived in freedom. We lived lives that were a statement, not an apology. ~Ronald Wilson Reagan~

I wanted to bring the following article to your attention, but I didn’t want to come across like I was being one-sided about this “thing” they call Rapid Detoxification, no matter how much I was against it.

I sat down, with an open mind, and looked at the empty piece of paper that lay in front of me. On the top of the page it simply said “Rapid Detoxification”. There were 2 columns, with one column simply labeled “Pro’s”, and the other “Cons”. My fiancé Mark walked by my desk, stopping to ask what I was “up to”. I quickly told him, he wished me good luck, and he told me he’d meet me outside on the front porch swing, which was our Saturday night ritual. I started by easily writing down negative (cons) views about it, starting with the cost ($5-8,000), many non-sterile environments, many negative responses, and even Deaths (just to name a few). I sat looking at the empty “pro” column, and I took the pen in my hand…….

Next thing I knew, Mark was patting my arm. “Honey, do you realize that you have been staring at that piece of paper for over an hour?” I looked at my watch. He was right. I said to Mark, “Well, I guess I just figured one thing out……that I don’t have to feel bad about not showing both sides of "Rapid Detoxification," because I seriously can’t think of one good reason that would justify someone's decision to have the Rapid Detoxification done!”

Sorry. I know that this may seem one-sided, but I haven’t talked to one person who hasn’t regretted having this done. Some, like the next story, we can’t even talk to anymore. Bless this man’s family. I’m sure they’d give it all up to have him back.

Doctor found negligent after Kansas man, 33, died from complications in Troy drug detoxification center in 2004.

Mike Martindale / The Detroit News

PONTIAC -- An Oakland Circuit Court jury Thursday awarded the family of a man who died in 2004 after treatment in a now-defunct Troy drug program more than $35 million in a wrongful death complaint.

The verdict for the family of Danny Oppenheim Jr. was against Dr. Aeneas Guiney, who was treating the 33-year-old Kansas man at the now closed Project Straight, a Troy-based rapid detoxification center.

"This verdict sends a strong and clear message to those marketing surgical medical procedures by non-board certified physicians," said lead trial counsel Brian J. McKeen. "Danny Oppenheim, a devoted husband and father, was taken from his family at age 33. His unnecessary death was a tragic injustice and the result of medical negligence."

Guiney could not be reached for comment Thursday. ***His medical license was suspended in November 2006, after the deaths of Oppenheim and another patient. Cox said Guiney, 70, of Grosse Pointe improperly employed drug detoxification procedures in the treatment of patients addicted to opioids.

The News reported in November how in January 2004, Oppenheim flew to Detroit from his Kansas City-area home to Project Straight, after reading of the program's success on its Web Site.

Project Straight involved the detoxification of people addicted to Heroin, Metha-done and painkillers such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Demerol and Morphine. Patients are evaluated, then administered an anesthetic and other medications to flush the opioids out of their bodies.

Some experts question the validity of rehabilitation programs that promise a quick fix but may not take into account the medical or psychological history of patients who repeatedly resort to drug use. Oppenheim's widow, Susie, said the promise of the one-day outpatient cure is what lured her husband to Michigan: "like a dream come true."

"He just wanted to get better," Susie Oppenheim said. "What they promised was like a dream come true."

But McKeen said a very cursory pretreatment physical exam failed to determine Oppenheim's history of hypertension and reactions to anesthesia. Oppenheim lost consciousness, was placed on life support and died several days later. *** McKeen stressed Oppenheim was not properly examined or monitored. An autopsy found anoxic encephalopathy-loss of oxygen due to complications of general anesthesia.

"We are grateful this verdict brings a sense of closure for Susie Oppenheim and her three children," McKeen said. "It is our hope that no other lives will be lost or destroyed through substandard rapid detoxification programs or by outpatient anesthesia without adequate monitoring, like this one that took the life of Danny Oppenheim."

You can reach Mike Martindale at (248) 647-7226 or mmartindale@detnews.com.

Any comment appreciated. We are all interested in hearing about your experience if you have received "Rapid Detoxification." Thank You.

If you can’t be happy where you are,

It’s a cinch you can’t be happy where you ain’t!!!

Hello, again, everyone, it’s Rozi. Last month I began our “Monthly Mad Moment”, challenging every one of you to find me an article that you know would get any of us “ticked off”.

I received a few entries, and the one that won this month is definitely one that angered me, and I am sure will anger you also. Special Thanks go out to “Sally Scott”, who emailed me the following article, which was a sure winner. Thanks again, Sally, and now it’s up to the rest of you to keep your eyes open and email me the article that you are sure will be the next “Monthly Mad Moment”. Email your entry or comments concerning this month’s winner to:

rozi.director@MedicalAssistedTreatment.org

I’ll be happy to publish any comments sent to me. Here’s this Month’s Winner:

The Pharmacist's Association of Saskatchewan is pondering whether it will file a lawsuit against the federal government for breach of contract.

The federal government recently changed the program which funds health benefits, like drug costs, for First Nations and Innuit. Now those who receive a prescription must go back to the originating pharmacist to continue to have the prescription filled.

The Association's Executive Director, Brett Filson, says that is a problem for people taking drugs like methadone, which is often prescribed for addiction treatment, to people who can be transient or have to get the prescription filled daily.

He says now pharmacists may have to tell the patients they can't provide the prescription which allows the patient to fulfill their treatment program.

Filson says he understands the purpose behind the change in policy is a matter of budget and tracking. But he says in Saskatchewan we don't need to worry about patients double dipping, there is already a province-wide computer system which allows pharmacists to see where and when the prescription was last filled.

What can I say? Could it be Lindsey Lohan? Should be given preferential treat-ment because she is a star? How about some feedback from my audience?

Food
For
Thought !

"Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”

"When you get into a tight place, and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time the tide will turn."

Well, everyone, another month has gone by, and we have met many, many new friends. We may not have all came from the same beginning, but we all met look-ing for the same ending. Every day that I am here with this wonderful website, I thank God for the amazing people that work so very hard to make your lives just a little bit better. Although they don’t like for me to do this, I still wanted all of you to know that you will never find souls as caring as Deborah, Dean, and Laura.

They truly do a remarkable job, trying to help you get up when you fall down, and turn you in the right direction to succeed.

I just wanted to say “Thank You” to these wonderful people on behalf of all the lives they have helped to change.

Until Next time, this is Rozi sending you smiles.