Bookmarkers beware: Bookmarks to pages other than the home page may not work after we change servers in April Editor's Choice | This Week in BMJ | Press releases BMJ No 7126 Volume 316 News Saturday 17 January 1998 Addict died after rapid opiate detoxification A heroin addict who survived the IRA bus bombing in London last year died as a result of "inadequate care" after rapid opiate detoxification treatment at a private hospital, an inquest jury decided last week. But the jury delivered a verdict of "misadventure." Addiction specialists called for a review of the controversial treatment after the death of Brendan Woolhead, who had been addicted to heroin for 13 years (10 May, p 1365). Patients undergoing the treatment are put under general anaesthetic for six to eight hours while the opiate antagonist naltrexone is administered. The technique is said to clear opiates from the body within 48 hours, leaving the patient to wake up with the worst of the withdrawal symptoms over. It has never been subjected to a randomised controlled trial, and the death has now made such a trial unlikely for the near future. The inquest was adjourned last April after two specialists, Professor Griffith Edwards of the National Addiction Centre and Professor Robert Kerwin from the Institute of Psychiatry, said that the treatment at the Wellbeck Hospital in London was reckless and grossly negligent. The case file was sent to the director of public prosecutions for consideration of possible manslaughter charges against the anaesthetist in charge of the treatment. But no charge was laid after a toxicologist said that he was certain that Mr Woolhead had taken opiates smuggled into the clinic during treatment. The anaesthetist had reluctantly agreed that Mr Woolhead could take one final heroin fix at home before booking in for treatment. But police told the inquest that large quantities of heroin or methadone were found in his bloodstream, indicating that he had taken the drug after waking up from the anaesthetic. His girlfriend, Gillian Cox, denied smuggling in the drugs. Clare Dyer, legal correspondent BMJ Home | Current issue | Past issues | Classified ads | Career Focus | Feedback Collections | About this site | About the BMJ | BMA | Medline