what “.37 mg/L” means for a blood concentration of methadone, or what “2.2 mg/Kg” means for a liver ccncentration of methadone. If you have a toxicology result that you would like to submit for interpretation, please email the lawyers at Methadone Law, and they can email you a chart that will help you understand what the numbers mean. www.methadonelaw.com

Often, a medical examiner will rely on toxicology or toxicological findings to determine cause of death. Toxicology, or the study of poisons, refers to the labwork performed on the body post-mortem. Occasionally, the cause of death will be “methadone intoxication.”

Thousands of patients die each year in every state from methadone toxicity, because methadone can have a variable half life among individuals. This means that one patient may eliminate half of the methadone from his body in only 9 hours, while another may eliminate half the methadone from his body only after 100 hours. If a person has a slow metabolism of methadone, and takes several days to eliminate just half of it, then repeated dosing on a daily basis can lead to a toxic, or poisonous buildup.

MethadoneToxicity Deaths

Methadone is a synthetic opioid used for analgesia and in opiate replacement programs, also called methadone clinics. Methadone is a central nervous system depressant. Methadone toxicity occurs when the load of methadone in a person’s system, is so great that it slows down the respiratory drive—the drive to breathe.

Thousands of patients die each year in every state from methadone toxicity, because methadone can have a long half life. This means that the time it takes for a patient to eliminate half of the methadone from his body may be as long as 100 hours. If a person has a slow metabolism of methadone, and takes several days to eliminate just half of it, then repeated dosing on a daily basis can lead to a toxic, or poisonous buildup.

In the past, many new patients to methadone clinics were given 40 milligrams of methadone on the first day. This proved to be a toxic dose for some patients. Many of these patients were given escalating doses on subsequent days, which increased their methadone load. The federal government has warned clinics about dangerous practices of starting doses too high, or giving every patient the same starting dose.

In pain clinics, recommended dosing begins at 2.5 milligrams, every 6-8 hours.