The case of Mr AMr A had been on methadone as part of opioid substitution treatment for the past 30 years. Between August 7 and 14, 2021, Mr A was discharged from the programme involuntarily, and his access to methadone cut off. Six weeks later, he died from "mixed dose toxicity", with the drugs in his system including methadone, to which he would have decreased tolerance due to the withdrawal. When Ms A declined, HNZ began to reduce her dose of methadone, supposedly to reduce her risk of an overdose. It assured the commissioner that methadone dispensing was "treated with utmost seriousness" and until this event it had maintained an eight-year record of no methadone dispensing errors.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 02, 2026 09:25 UTC