Supervised injectable heroin or injectable methadone versus optimised oral methadone as treatment for chronic heroin addicts in England after persistent failure in orthodox treatment (RIOTT): a randomised trial.

The article focuses on a study which compared the effectiveness of supervised injectable treatment with medicinal heroin or supervised injectable methadone and optimized oral methadone for chronic heroin addiction. The study included 301 chronic heroin addicts who were randomized to receive either injectable methadone, injectable heroin or oral methadone. It found that the use of supervised injectable heroin is associated with reduced use of street heroin, compared to supervised injectable methadone and optimized oral methadone. Study authors concluded that the British government should support heroin maintenance treatment for chronic heroin addicts.