SAMHSA and FDA Launch Methadone Education Campaign

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are teaming up to launch a new education program on methadone safety.

The program, “Follow Directions: How to Use Methadone Safely,” is meant to educate consumers, healthcare professionals, and treatment programs about safety and misuse issues surrounding methadone use for pain-management and opiate addiction treatment.

Methadone poisonings have tripled over the last few years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the number of methadone-poisoning deaths increasing at a faster rate than that of any other narcotic drug.

SAMHSA and the FDA have created informational materials on methadone in English and Spanish, along with a point-of-sale information sheet for pharmacies.

“Our goal for this training is to support the safe use of methadone by all patients and prescribing healthcare professionals.” said H. Westley Clark, director of SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.