These methadone-based treatments are causing an increasing number of overdoses. warns This Thursday, May 21, 2026, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) is calling on patients and doctors to be more vigilant. Between 2021 and 2025, vigilance data showed a continued increase in reported cases of overdose and serious adverse events." she reports in a statement.
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Withdrawal treatment or substitute painkiller
Treatments based on methadone, an opioid medication, are used in the management of addiction to opioids or opiates Whether they are illicit like heroin or authorized as medication like morphine, it is also used to treat chronic cancer pain when other painkillers are ineffective.
Overdose, interactions with other medications
In 2024, approximately 72,000 patients were prescribed methadone for these various indications, according to information provided by the ANSM (French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety) to AFP. However, these treatments themselves carry a risk of overdose when taken uncontrolled, without adhering to the prescribed dosage and without considering the risk of interactions with other medications.
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However, the ANSM points out that the phenomenon is on the rise, even though these treatments are not taken haphazardly but " in patients who were nevertheless being followed in a care protocolIt should also be noted that some doctors are authorized to prescribe it, and use a secure prescription and for a limited time. The agency, which does not provide figures on the number of recorded overdoses or the number of fatalities, puts forward several hypotheses, primarily excessive dosage at the start of treatment. Certain risk factors can be triggered by abruptly stopping treatment, reducing methadone doses too quickly, irregular intake, interactions with other medications taken concurrently, or the consumption of alcohol, other opioids, cocaine, etc.
Prescribing a naloxone kit
She therefore appeals to patients to be vigilant, asking them to strictly adhere to the prescribed dosages and not to give access to their medication to others, as well as to doctors, who are urged to check other ongoing treatments and to prescribe gradually increasing doses of methadone. She also emphasizes the need to systematically prescribe... naloxone in addition to methadone. This molecule can serve as an immediate antidote in case of methadone poisoning.
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