Fredericton doctors halt methadone from leaving pharmacies

Three Fredericton doctors have scuttled the option for patients to take methadone home following the death of a Moncton-area toddler who ingested the synthetic drug.

The doctors have posted a notice at local pharmacies informing patients that methadone can no longer be taken home.

"In light of numerous reports of methadone being sold on the street in Fredericton and as a consequence of recent unintended and inadvertent ingestion of methadone and in the interest of public safety, all methadone carry doses are cancelled. Administration of daily dosing will be supervised at pharmacy," the poster states.

A 23-month-old girl died on Jan. 13 after swallowing methadone in her home in Havelock.

The RCMP is investigating the toddler's death as suspicious. It's not known whether the methadone was in the home legally.

Methadone is a synthetic opiate used to treat pain, as well as addictions to opioids, such as heroin, Dilaudid and Oxycontin.

Normally, clients have to go to a drugstore to drink the liquid in front of a pharmacist.

Patients, who have been in treatment for at least three months and are considered stable by their physician, were allowed to take multiple doses home with them. About 478 patients currently qualify for the so-called carries program.

The Department of Health estimates roughly 1,000 people in New Brunswick are receiving methadone treatment through the province's four public clinics.