Naltrexone Implant Outperforms Daily Pill in Russian Trial
More than half of heroin-addicted patients treated with naltrexone via an implanted delivery device maintained abstinence throughout a 6-month clinical trial in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The implant device, which releases a steady dose of naltrexone continuously for 2 months, averted relapse to heroin use three times as effectively as daily oral doses of the medication. Oral naltrexone, in turn, yielded a slightly, but statistically nonsignificant, higher rate of remission from heroin use than placebo. Naltrexone is the primary medical aid to abstinence from opioid use in Russia and in some