What Is the Starting Dose of Methadone?
by
Phyllis J. Lile-King on Jul. 06, 2016
Accident & Injury Medical Malpractice Accident & Injury Wrongful Death Accident & Injury Personal Injury
Summary: The correct starting dose of methadone depends on you, your medical conditions, and on when and how much other opiates you have used immediately before starting methadone. If you don't get the proper methadone dose, the methadone can cause death and the doctor can be sued for an overdose death.
The right starting dose of methadone depends on what methadone is prescribed to treat and what medications the patient was on before the methadone. Generally speaking, patients who use methadone for pain, who have not been on an opiate continuously before starting methadone, may start at 2.5 mg. There are several medical articles that address the proper dose for a pain patient. For a patient who is dependent on opiates, if the patient is qualified for admission to the opiate program after a full workup, history and exam, the starting dose may be 5 mg or 10 mg or even higher. A doctor makes this decision after reviewing all the information about the patient’s past drug use. Federal law prohibits an initial dose exceeding 30 mg. For more information about the proper starting dose of methadone, go to www.methadonelaw.com or www.overdoselaw.com and click on “Contact Us.” We can provide this information free of charge, or consult with you about the proper starting dose for your family member from a legal and medico-legal standpoint.