Dr. Eamon Keenan:

I cannot speak about the specific case. The decision to prescribe methadone or any other opioid agonist treatment is not taken lightly by any doctor. A full, comprehensive clinical assessment of any patient who gets a prescription of methadone would be carried out. There is one condition that can be associated with high-dose methadone.

It is in our guidelines now that when people are on higher doses of methadone they receive ECGs to check their cardiac status. The cardiac status of any person who commences methadone is rigorously interrogated by any doctor prescribing it at this point. That is given.