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Is 110 To 120 Mg Methadone Lethal?
Question: My daughter passed away suddenly last April. She was 26, owned her own dance company and was going to be married Oct. 2014. She was on Methadone program for 2 years. She also had pneumonia. My wife was called by Chief Medical Examiner, who was alarmed by the high level of Methadone in her body. I believe the oral amount was 110 to 120 a day. The first death certificate said Methadone toxicity. Now they have change it to Acute pneumonia- Methadone toxicity. We believe that her death was from high doses of Methadone and not Pneumonia. What can we do to get the correct cause? My e-mail address is ( YYYY@YYYY ) Sincerely, XXXXXXX
Brief Answer:
Could be a combination of pneumonia and methadone
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXXX thank you for using Healthcare Magic. I am very sorry for your loss, this is such a tragedy.
You will probably not be able to prove that the methadone alone was responsible for her passing. The oral amount of 110 to 120 mg is quite high, and the CME was alarmed by the high blood level. So certainly the methadone played a big role in her death.
Methadone causes respiratory depression. It can even result in respiratory arrest. However, if she had been taking that same dose for awhile, her body was probably already tolerant of the high dose, meaning that she could take such doses without significant respiratory effects. If she had suddenly had taken a huge increased dose from a lower daily dose, this could have caused respiratory depression. These are factors to consider.
People with pneumonia already have compromised respiration and difficulty oxygenating their blood. Extensive pneumonia alone could result in inadequate oxygenation. The addition of a respiratory depressant such as methadone in that situation could tip a person over into respiratory failure. It would be difficult to attribute her death primarily to one cause or the other.
That would make your case more difficult. If you could prove she was on a lower dose of methadone, then suddenly got hit with a higher dose through some error, you might have a better case. However, it may still be problematic because you don't know for sure if she had taken additional narcotics on her own, or saved up doses of methadone to take one big dose to get high. Unfortunately people with drug addictions on Methadone sometimes do this. They don't realize a sudden large dose can be deadly.
Again, I am very sorry for your loss. I had a brother on the Methadone program who passed away from a severe flu-induced pneumonia several years ago. I understand how painful that is and how you want to find a satisfactory answer to what took her life. You could talk to the coroner about the findings in her lungs if she had an autopsy. The extent of the pneumonia might add information to the causes, and may be the reason the diagnosis of pneumonia was added later.
Hope this answers your query. If you have further questions, I would be happy to answer them.
Could be a combination of pneumonia and methadone
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXXX thank you for using Healthcare Magic. I am very sorry for your loss, this is such a tragedy.
You will probably not be able to prove that the methadone alone was responsible for her passing. The oral amount of 110 to 120 mg is quite high, and the CME was alarmed by the high blood level. So certainly the methadone played a big role in her death.
Methadone causes respiratory depression. It can even result in respiratory arrest. However, if she had been taking that same dose for awhile, her body was probably already tolerant of the high dose, meaning that she could take such doses without significant respiratory effects. If she had suddenly had taken a huge increased dose from a lower daily dose, this could have caused respiratory depression. These are factors to consider.
People with pneumonia already have compromised respiration and difficulty oxygenating their blood. Extensive pneumonia alone could result in inadequate oxygenation. The addition of a respiratory depressant such as methadone in that situation could tip a person over into respiratory failure. It would be difficult to attribute her death primarily to one cause or the other.
That would make your case more difficult. If you could prove she was on a lower dose of methadone, then suddenly got hit with a higher dose through some error, you might have a better case. However, it may still be problematic because you don't know for sure if she had taken additional narcotics on her own, or saved up doses of methadone to take one big dose to get high. Unfortunately people with drug addictions on Methadone sometimes do this. They don't realize a sudden large dose can be deadly.
Again, I am very sorry for your loss. I had a brother on the Methadone program who passed away from a severe flu-induced pneumonia several years ago. I understand how painful that is and how you want to find a satisfactory answer to what took her life. You could talk to the coroner about the findings in her lungs if she had an autopsy. The extent of the pneumonia might add information to the causes, and may be the reason the diagnosis of pneumonia was added later.
Hope this answers your query. If you have further questions, I would be happy to answer them.
Note: For further follow-up it is advisable to consult an emergency medicine specialist. Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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