The Associated Press

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The increasing use of methadone for pain relief, rather than to help people overcome addiction, has led to a sharp spike in deaths, both nationally and in Kansas.

A 2004 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that increased prescription of methadone through pharmacies is driving the growth in methadone-related deaths.

Methadone-related poisoning deaths grew 389 percent between 1999 and 2004, from 786 to 3,849, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. In Kansas, such deaths grew from four to 25 in that period.

Dr. William McKnelly and his staff have been doling out methadone at the Kansas City Metro Methadone Program for decades. Patients pay $9 per day to come to the clinic, drink their dose and continue with their day.

McKnelly said some doctors using methadone to relieve pain “have no clue” about the drug and its powers.

Use of opiates other than methadone also is increasing. Oxycodone prescriptions increased 50 percent between 1999 and 2002, and morphine prescriptions grew 60 percent, according to a study cited in January’s Journal of the American Medical Association. The most prescribed drug nationwide is the painkiller hydrocodone, with more than 100 million prescriptions in 2005.

McKnelly and his staff say they have had more patients in recent years who are hooked on prescription pills. McKnelly calls OxyContin “the worst thing in the world.”

Methadone-maintenance therapy has three goals: to block cravings, to dull any euphoric sensations related to taking other drugs and to keep the person from going into withdrawal.

“Trying to get off any opiates is awful. It’s hell,” said Kerry McLay, a Lawrence substance-abuse counselor. “You have extreme body aches and nausea. Most people need to go to the hospital and medically detox.”

McKnelly said he knows that clinics such as his “bother some idealistic people” who see it as swapping one drug for another. But he said dispensing the drug in a legal setting reduces crime and the chances of people getting HIV or hepatitis from a needle.