Relaxed methadone rules appear safe, researchers find

By CARLA K. JOHNSON
AP Medical Writer

The U.S. relaxed rules around the addiction treatment drug methadone during the pandemic, and researchers now say those changes didn’t lead to more overdose deaths. That’s according to a new study published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry. The finding may help make the change permanent. More than 400,000 people in the United States take methadone as part of their treatment for addiction to opioids such as heroin, fentanyl and painkillers. Methadone is an opioid itself and can be dangerous in large amounts. The researchers found that the share of overdose deaths involving methadone declined from about 4% in January 2019 to about 3% in August 2021.