Methadone safe and effective for treating cancer pain When Juan Santiago-Palma suggests to his chronic cancer pain patients that he wants to switch them from fentanyl to methadone, there is almost always resistance. "I'm not a drug addict", they tell him, "isn't that what junkies take?" Despite the notoriety associated with methadone, Santiago-Palma, a pain and palliative care Fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, USA) says methadone is receiving renewed attention from clinicians who treat chronic and severe pain. "If the patients don't raise their eyebrows, then members of their family will say something", said Craig Kornick, also at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. "But methadone works very well to control pain", he told the 20th annual scientific meeting of the American Pain Society in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, in April. "Methadone is making a comeback", says Richard DuBose, Medical Director of the Idaho Pain Center, Boise, USA. "It is evident by the interest shown in presentations at this meeting. And there are good reasons that methadone should be used more in chronic pain cases. It is long-lasting, effective in controlling pain, and it is cheap". [06/08/2001; Lancet Oncology] Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.