Feasibility, safety, and efficacy of injectable heroin prescription for refractory opioid addicts: a follow-up study

Rehm, Jürgen; Gschwend, Patrick; Steffen, Thomas; Gutzwiller, Felix; Dobler-Mikola, Anja; Uchtenhagen, Ambros

doi:10.5167/uzh-94630

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Rehm, J., Gschwend, P., Steffen, T., Gutzwiller, F., Dobler-Mikola, A., & Uchtenhagen, A. (2001). Feasibility, safety, and efficacy of injectable heroin prescription for refractory opioid addicts: a follow-up study. The Lancet, 358, 1417–1420. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(01)06529-1

Abstract

Background: Heroin-assisted substitution treatment for severely opioid-dependent drug users has been available in Switzerland since 1994. Our aim was to ascertain the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of this treatment. Methods: We did a cohort study in 21 community outpatient treatment centres. We assessed 1969 opioid-dependent drug users, who began heroin-assisted substitution treatment between January, 1994, and December, 2000, to ascertain admission and discharge patterns, and patient characteristics. We also followed up a subset