Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users
to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response
is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual
response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the
browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published
online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed.
Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles.
The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being
wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our
attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not
including references and author details. We will no longer post responses
that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
I always check facts and sources as carefully as possible. The
interpretation of the Edinburgh study in my news story is taken directly
from an email discussion with one of the study authors, Roy Robertson,
reader and general practice principal at Muirhouse Medical Group,
Edinburgh.
Quoting directly from his response to my questions, he said, "This
[study] shows that cessation, from injecting, is slow and long term and
that methadone treatment needs to be long term."
The study shows that for each additional year of opiate substitution
treatment the hazard of death before long term cessation fell by 13% after
adjusting for a range of factors. The authors' conclusions were that
survival benefits increase with cumulative exposure to treatment, although
treatment did not reduce the overall duration of injecting (BMJ 2010; 340:
c3172).
"A recent study by Dr Robertson’s group showed that stopping injected
drug use was a slow and long term process and that methadone treatment
similarly needs to take place over a long time (BMJ 2010;341:c3172,
doi:10.1136/bmj.c3172)."
It showed nothing of the kind!
The study actually showed that Methadone increased the time it took
injecting drug users to cease injecting and that a large proportion of
patients on Methadone died of opiate overdose.
Just as "evidence based medicine" sometimes isn't when we go to the
source data, reporting of fact is sometimes erroneous too!
Since this "News" item has probably already gone to paper
publication, it is to be hoped that the journal will print a subsequent
correction on inflated claims for research that has not yet completed the
peer review process.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests:
No competing interests
29 July 2010
Andrew J Ashworth
GP Principal
Davidson's Mains Medical Centre, 5 Quality Street, Edinburgh EH4 5BP
I stick to facts and check my sources as carefully as possible
I always check facts and sources as carefully as possible. The
interpretation of the Edinburgh study in my news story is taken directly
from an email discussion with one of the study authors, Roy Robertson,
reader and general practice principal at Muirhouse Medical Group,
Edinburgh.
Quoting directly from his response to my questions, he said, "This
[study] shows that cessation, from injecting, is slow and long term and
that methadone treatment needs to be long term."
The study shows that for each additional year of opiate substitution
treatment the hazard of death before long term cessation fell by 13% after
adjusting for a range of factors. The authors' conclusions were that
survival benefits increase with cumulative exposure to treatment, although
treatment did not reduce the overall duration of injecting (BMJ 2010; 340:
c3172).
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests