Brian Cowen
Question:25 Mr. Cowen asked the Minister for Health the amount of methadone prescribed in 1996; and the number of addicts who received that methadone. [12374/97]
Written Answers. - Drug Treatment Services.
Limerick East): It is not possible to be precise about the amount of methadone being prescribed to drug misusers as methadone is prescribed in a number of settings such as treatment centres, satellite clinics and general practitioners' surgeries.
Over 2,000 persons are registered as being in receipt of methadone on the central treatment list. The average daily amount of methadone prescribed to each patient in treatment centres is 55 mg. and a certain number of these patients are on detoxification programmes receiving reducing levels of methadone.
A Department of Health group has been established to review the involvement of general practitioners and pharmacists in the treatment of drug misuse, including the prescribing and dispensing of methadone, and expects to report on the issue in the near future.