Opiate detoxification under anaesthesia

EDITOR—The editorial by Strang et al1 summarises a previous paper to which I wrote a detailed reply noting several serious errors and omissions.2 They have ignored three important points.

Firstly, although one commercial provider has seriously misled the media,3 rapid opiate detoxification under anaesthesia has been regularly and increasingly used by state hospitals in several countries since 1987. Seoane et al described its effectiveness in detoxification and in starting naltrexone maintenance treatment in heroin addicts who had previously …