Parents of a Dunedin man who died after a methadone overdose would still like to see mandatory requirements for photograph identification of methadone patients in pharmacies.
While Donna Letham and Michael Wilson welcome the updated guidelines for Opioid Substitution Treatment just released by the Ministry of Health which strengthen the recommended procedures for identifying patients, they would like them to be compulsory.
Their son, Christopher Wilson (26), died in March 2006 after he was mistaken for another methadone client at a Dunedin pharmacy and given that man's takeaway dose.
His family have been pushing for a national protocol for photograph identification of methadone patients in the hope any similar deaths could be avoided.
Yesterday, Mrs Letham, who had been made aware of the content of the guidelines earlier this year, said she was "rapt", but "people have got to follow them".
The publication of the guidelines was the end of a long battle and would provide some closure for the family.
Mr Wilson said it would be interesting to see how well the guidelines were followed by doing a random check later.
"I guarantee within a year it will have relaxed again."
Rules were only effective if people were prosecuted for breaking them.
The updated Opioid Substitution Treatment guidelines say prescribers must provide the pharmacist with a current named photograph of each client.
Pharmacists are asked to positively identify the client, checking a recent photograph provided by the specialist service or prescriber and/or checking photo identification provided by the client if the pharmacist is uncertain about a client's identity.
The type of photo identification which might be provided by the client is not specified.
The 2003 guidelines referred to "sighting of photographic identification if the person is not known to the pharmacist.
A detailed description by specialist service staff or the prescriber may suffice".
Both Mrs Letham and Mr Wilson expressed gratitude for the support they had received from Community Alcohol and Drug Service medical director Gavin Cape in their bid for changes to procedures.
Mr Wilson said he would have liked to continue to campaign for mandatory identification rules, but found it too stressful.
The ministry guidelines are designed to give advice on the best practice for clinically assessing, treating and providing support to clients with opioid dependence with an emphasis on patients moving from maintenance programmes to being opioid-substitution free.
