Dr Rowe’s research has
revealed the struggles of
people on methadone
programs.

Recovering drug users are struggling to meet the cost of methadone programs, with some relapsing into heroin addiction after being forced to abandon treatment, RMIT University research has found.

RMIT academic Dr James Rowe prepared the report, A Raw Deal: Impact on the health of consumers relative to the cost of pharmacotherapy, in partnership with The Salvation Army’s Research and Advocacy Unit.

The research, launched last week, found the cost of dispensing fees for opioid maintenance treatment programs was driving some recovering users to crime and sex work, while others were going without meals and struggled to find stable accommodation.

Dr Rowe, from the Centre for Applied Social Research at RMIT, said many patients on limited incomes had their treatment discontinued against their will because they were unable to continue paying dispensing fees.

He said the Federal Government’s failure to subsidise pharmacist dispensing fees – which average about $60 a fortnight for opioid maintenance programs – was hurting some of the most vulnerable people in the community.

“While the Government covers the cost of pharmacotherapy programs such as methadone and buprenorphine, people still have to cover the dispensing fees charged by pharmacists,” Dr Rowe said.

“Recovering drug addicts are usually trying to survive on very low incomes and the struggle to find $60 a fortnight to pay for their health treatment is driving some people to breaking point.

“People who suffer from other health issues – including problems that may be attributed to their past lifestyles such as type-2 Diabetes, high cholesterol or alcoholism – have both the cost of their medication and the dispensing fees charged by pharmacists subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

“The Government needs to act so people who are trying to recover from addictions are not forced to extreme measures to pay for their legitimate medical treatment, or driven off treatment programs and back to their drug habits.”

The research was based on an in-depth survey of 120 recovering drug users undergoing treatment through methadone programs, whose main source of income was government welfare payments.

“Opioid maintenance treatment is internationally recognised as the ‘gold standard’ of treatment for heroin dependency,” Dr Rowe said.

“It is widely recognised that people’s ability to live productively and be free of illicit drug use depends on their continued involvement in maintenance programs.

“The most damning result of the Government’s policy on dispensing fees for pharmacotherapy is that it directly impacts on the retention rates of the treatment program, sometimes with devastating results for the individuals involved.”