week trial, 60 percent and 68 percent of patients in the low- and high-dose naltrexone groups, respectively, remained in treatment, whereas the majority of patients in the placebo group dropped out. The average time to dropout ranged from 27 days for the placebo group to 48 days for the high-dose naltrexone group. The percentage of urine samples that were negative for opioid drugs was highest for high-dose naltrexone and lowest for placebo, the authors point out. Side effects with naltrexone, at either dose, were uncommon and generally mild, the report indicates. Moreover, the injectable formulation of the drug was well tolerated. "The availability of sustained-release formulations of naltrexone holds the promise of allowing patients to circumvent their ambivalence to taking the medication and to focus instead on other issues relevant to sustaining abstinence," the authors conclude. --SP 22 27 Local Time 19 27 GMT
