Through the 1970s, consultant psychiatrists in the NHS drug clinics had been moving away from prescribing any injectable drug to oral methadone – and also on a reducing dose basis. But there were still doctors in the community (both private…
Tag Archive for doctors
Druglink news item 1998 – Orange book signals sweeping changes
If a doctor needs a license to prescribe any drug other than methadone mixture, there will be considerable pressure not to prescribe any other drug. Orange book signals sweeping changes (PDF)
Druglink article 1998 – Control through evidence: the double-edged sword by Tom Waller
With licensing on the cards for GPs who prescribe substitute drugs, the research base for those prescribing decisions must be urgently reconsidered. When we insist on only accepting evidence-based medicine are we simply cutting ourselves off from better alternatives? Control…
Druglink article 1997 – The English patient: doctors and drug users in Britain today by Sarah Mars
A new report from the BMA seeks to provide GPs with guidance on working with drug-using patients. Funding problems are particularly acute in this area, and it is recommended that combined local budgets are explored to remedy this situation. Shared care…
Druglink article 1997 – Substitute prescribing – Social policy or individual treatment? and why we must make the decision by Duncan Raistrick
The Lewisham Citizen’s Jury concluded that methadone was more dangerous than heroin. If the educated public think this, can substitute prescribing have much of a future? Substitute prescribing – Social policy or individual treatment? (PDF) Additional keywords: heroin maintenance /…
Druglink article 1996 – Methadone works by Tom Carnwath
In the first Druglink of 1996, an article claimed that methadone had a death rate four times that of heroin. If this is true, the drug field’s response to heroin addiction urgently needs to be reconsidered. However, a brief analysis…
Druglink article 1995 – Who killed the British system? by John Marks
Forced through the health services market to close his drug dependence clinic, John Marks fires his parting shot at the doctors he accuses of having dismantled the ‘British system’ Who killed the British system? (PDF) Additional keywords: heroin prescribing /…
Druglink article 1992 – Unpopular patients- GPs’ attitudes to drug users by Judy Greenwood
A former GP who helped establish a drug service in Edinburgh involving a network of GPS describes the attitudes and beliefs that lead GPs to avoid drug using patients. Among these are the social gulf between the doctor and the patient,…
Druglink article 1990 – Ways to open the surgery door by Tom Waller
Why rejecting special payments for GPs may jeopardise our whole AIDS programme Expanding specialist services cannot fulfill the urgent need for greater medical involvement in drug treatment and HIV prevention. Mass participation by GPs can, but this means reversing the effects…
Druglink article 1990 – Making research part of drugs work by Robert Power, Sara Jones, Annette Dale and Paul Turnbull
An example is given of close cooperation between researchers evaluating a drug team and the team itself. Regular, speedy feedback of research findings helped the team refine its objectives and methods. Research surveys and outreach studies doubled as publicity for…