SALOME was a clinical trial to test alternative treatments for people with chronic heroin addiction who are not benefiting from currently available treatments. Two medications were compared in SALOME – Diacetylemorphine (DAM), demonstrated to be more effective than oral methadone but not conventionally used in opioid addiction treatment in Canada, and hydromorphone (HDM) (Dilaudid®), a licensed pain medication.
A total of 202 participants who met criteria for the study were randomized to receive either injectable DAM or HDM. If the results of the study demonstrates that HDM is as good as DAM in the treatment of the most vulnerable long-term heroin users, it could become an alternative treatment for those not responding to conventional treatments (ie. oral methadone), and be readily integrated into the continuum of care under the supervision of licensed doctors.
SALOME is led by Dr. Michael Krausz, UBC-Providence Health Care BC Leadership Chair in Addiction Research and Professor of Psychiatry, Epidemiology and Public Health and Dr. Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes, Assistant Professor in UBC’s School of Population and Public Health.
While this study has now been completed, our group is actively working on publications to share the results of this important trial.