Heroin prescription: a limited but valuable role

Heroin prescription and history.

Medical prescription of heroin--a review.

There are many problems associated with injection drug use, problems that affect both the users themselves as well as those close to them and the society in which they live. Whether through complications associated with drug use (multiple infections, mental health problems, etc) or through the consequences on those close to them and on society (family dysfunction, crime, etc), the costs of ille...

Opiate Addicts ́ Attitudes Towards Heroin Prescription

Introduction: The competence of opiate addicts to give a valid consent to heroin prescription (HP) has been doubted in principle under the assumption that the pathological urge to use heroin would prevent them from reasonably weighing the pros and cons of HP. This study was done to test whether opiate addicts have a differentiated attitude towards HP which would be a basis for an individual dec...

Cynthia's dilemma: consenting to heroin prescription.

Heroin prescription involves the medical provision of heroin in the treatment of heroin addiction. Rudimentary clinical trials on that treatment modality have been carried out and others are currently underway or in development. However, it is questionable whether subjects considered for such trials are mentally competent to consent to them. The problem has not been sufficiently appreciated in ...

Prescription naloxone: a novel approach to heroin overdose prevention.

The mortality and morbidity from heroin overdose have increased in the United States and internationally in the last decade. The lipid solubility allows the rapid deposition of heroin and its metabolites into the central nervous system and accounts for the "rush" experienced by users and for the toxicity. Risk factors for fatal and nonfatal heroin overdoses such as recent abstinence, decreased ...