http://exhibits.library.stonybrook.edu/mfp/files/original/6b08db98239c584a39cfd531b7fdff09.pdf 29bff79f9df03ac2d58767019a5b809b PDF Text Text EdiTor, OcTober JAMA 3i, |97i American Medical AssociaTion Chicago, illinois Sir: i am wriTing in reference To The reporT by The AMA Council on MenTal HealTh, "NarcoTics and Medical PracTice" in The issue of OcTober 25. While The reporT repeaTs The convenTionai expressions of earlier reporTs, There are Two faceTs of The TreaTmenT of oplaTe dependence of The meophine Type ThaT are presenTed so poorly as To warranT commenT. AfTer agreeing ThaT meThadone mainTenance is a logical procedure for communiTy agencies, The CommiTTee recommends This TreaTmenT as noT feasible for office prachce, noTing ThaT The individual physician ". . . cannoT provide all of The services for The various TherapeuTic needs of The paTienT." As i know of no evidence ThaT meThadone mainTenance is therapeutic, nor of any evidence ThaT some 'TherapeuTic services' affecT The course of The disorder in subjecTs receiving meThadone as Their primary TreaTmenT. Could iT be, ThaT The Council is once again presenTing ex cathedra opinions based on no evidence, To suiy some public needs or prejudices ? Would iT noT be more honesT To suggesT ThaT The fear of illiciT disTribuTion of meThadone puTs The AMA Council on The side of limiTed disTrlbuTion, and if ways could be found To use physicians wiThouT seepage, ThaT This would be as saTisfacTory as any oTher means of dlsTribuTion ThaT provided medlcaTlon wiThouT seepage ? A second issue is ThaT The secTion on research repeaTs The sTaTemenTs of years pasT, wlThouT acknowledgemenT ThaT some progress has been made in Two areas- The use of narcoTic anTagonisTs of The specific Type (see JAMA, 202:l9l—l94, i967; ibid, 215:2l08-2ll0,i97i; Science, 169: i005-l006, l970) and in The conTagbous Theory of opiaTe dependence— The laTTer providing an alTernaTe Theory To The convenTionai 'bad psyche' Theory implied in The CommlTTee's recommendaTions. There are oTher discrepancies wiTh experience which suggesT ThaT The Council has noT Taken lTs charge seriously. Sincerely yours, Max Fink, M.D. Professor of PsychiaTry � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Correspondence Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Correspondence to: Journal of the American Medical Association Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mfp-05-00-025-7-411 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <a title="Fink, Max, 1923-" href="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79039548" target="_blank">Fink, Max, 1923-</a> Subject The topic of the resource Correspondence -- Correspondence Relation A related resource The Max Fink Collection Description An account of the resource Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a title="IN COPYRIGHT - EDUCATIONAL USE PERMITTED" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/" target="_blank">IN COPYRIGHT - EDUCATIONAL USE PERMITTED</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries. Stony Brook University Libraries (State University of New York). Language A language of the resource en-US Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Correspondence