Members of the Advisory Committee on Opioid Dependence were delighted with the CMAJ article on the work of the College of Physicians & Surgeons of British Columbia with respect to methadone treatment,1 which we believe communicated the sense of challenge, excitement and hope that our methadone-prescribing physicians now feel. However, 2 issues in the sidebar deserve clarification.
First, the recommended starting dose is 20-40 mg, and the maintenance dose depends upon the needs of the patient. Second, a physician must submit a registration and assessment form to the college for each patient, with sufficient information to enable the college to advise the physician whether the approved criteria have been met, and if so to register the patient in the methadone program.
Acknowledgments
Letters may be submitted by mail, courier, email or fax. They must be signed by all authors and limited to 300 words in length. Letters that refer to articles must be received within 2 months of the publication of the article. CMAJ corresponds only with the authors of accepted letters. Letters are subject to editing and abridgement.
Email should be addressed to pubs{at}cma.ca and should indicate "Letter to the editor of CMAJ" in the subject line. A signed copy must be sent subsequently to CMAJ by fax or regular mail. Accepted letters sent by email appear in the Readers' Forum of CMA Online (www.cma.ca) promptly, as well as being published in a subsequent issue of the journal.
Reference
- 1.↵