Detox treatment for drug users is more kill than cure

A new technique that helps detoxify drug users while they are under anaesthetic could be highly dangerous.

Reports from the US, where the technique has been tried in private clinics for the last five years or so, reveal that patients are dying or suffering a serious adverse reaction, including pulmonary oedema.

The technique, called rapid anaesthetic-antagonist opiate detoxification, is supposed to put the drug user through the pain of drug withdrawal while he is asleep so that, when he awakes, he no longer has the desire to take drugs.

Despite the dangers, the treatment continues to be used across the USA (Acad Emerg Med, 2002; 9: 63-8).