How many people have to die from Methadone? There were 5500 methadone related deaths in 2007. Methadone in theraputic doses kills.Methadone can cause life threatening heart problems. A dose that may be theraputic for one may be lethal for another. Propoxyphene (Darvon, Darvocet)  was second to Methadone  in number of deaths. Propoxyphene was withdrawn from the market at the request of the FDA in 2010, methadone remains. Why? Methadone is still being prescribed with medications that cause death.There are very few studies that methadone is effective for addiction.Methadone is being diverted, pharmacies are being robbed for methadone, crime has continued and methadone is being abused. (These are all reasons for using methadone for addiction) Using methadone for addiction is trading an addiction for an addiction. Methadone is the last drug of choice for pain management because the risk of death with theraputic doses are so well known. The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic properties are complex and incompletely documented. Methadones unique properties make it unforgiving and sometimes lethal. Methadone has little cross tolerance with other opiods; therefore even patients with a high degree of opiod tolerance are at risk of overdose. Methadone represented less than 5% of prescribed opiates but was attributed to 1/3 of opiate related deaths. Again, how many people have to die?