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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2010, 12, 2 (pages: 19 - 24)

Additional take-home dosages

Rupnik J. C.

Summary: Objectives: The objective of the study was to analyse the practice of giving take-home dosages of opioid medications to patients with reference to the reasons for and the quantity of the medications given as additional or extra take-home dosages. Methods: All the patients were checked regarding the kind of medication, urine samples, reasons for extra take-home dosages and their quantity. Results: Of the 150 patients selected for the group in the programme, 27 needed one or more extra take-home dosages in 2007. 10 (11*) of those patients had negative urine samples for all illicit drugs and never used alcohol at any stage of the year of the study. 7 patients used marijuana, benzodiazepines or alcohol only once or just occasionally in that year. 10 patients used other illicit drugs or used alcohol and benzodiazepines more often. Among the reasons for extra take-home dosages, hard physical work was listed 7 times, vomiting because of the bad taste of the medication 3 times, difficulties in intiating medical therapy after entering the programme 3 times, vomiting as a part of illness twice and lowering the dosage too quickly twice. Other reasons were listed once each. Altogether, the percentage of the overall quantity of medications received by patients during the year as extra take-home dosages was: 0.47% for methadone, 0.75% for buprenorphine and 0.10% for SR morphine. Conclusions: Reviewing the fairly good results of treatment at the centre, therapeutic decisions to give additional take-home dosages to the patients have proved to be reasonable and usually correct. Throughout this study a continual therapeutic wish to achieve a better understanding of opioid addiction as just one among other chronic diseases has been made evident.