Mother of Methadone: A Doctor's Quest, a Forgotten History, and a Modern-Day Crisis
“An important chronicle of how stigma, inertia, and ignorance hamper our mental health system—a vital read for understanding both the history and the future of addiction care at a pivotal moment for our nation’s health.”—Carl Erik Fisher, MD, author of The Urge: Our Story of Addiction

Brings together the stories of two doctors battling the opioid epidemic half a century apart to reveal the origins of today's public health crisis


Dr. Melody Glenn was a burned-out emergency physician who had grown to resent the large population of opioid dependent patients passing through her ER. While working at a methadone clinic, she realized how effective harm reduction treatments could be and set out to discover why they weren’t used more broadly. That’s when she found Dr. Marie Nyswander.

In the 1960’s, Nyswander defied the DEA and medical establishment to co-develop methadone maintenance as a treatment for heroin addiction. According to some addiction specialists, its discovery could be considered as monumental as the discovery of penicillin. Yet, it still carries a stigma today.

Deftly weaving together interviews, media coverage, and historical documents, Glenn recovers Nyswander’s important legacy and reveals how the forces of racism, fearmongering politicians, and misinformation colluded to set us back decades in our understandings of opioids.

With Nyswander as her guide, Glenn also shares her journey through addiction medicine as she confronts her own personal and philosophical quandaries around bias, ambition, and saviorism in the medical field.

As the US continues to struggle with opioid and fentanyl use in communities, Mother of Methadone is a powerful reminder of the ways biases have prevented doctors from saving countless lives.
1146455293
Mother of Methadone: A Doctor's Quest, a Forgotten History, and a Modern-Day Crisis
“An important chronicle of how stigma, inertia, and ignorance hamper our mental health system—a vital read for understanding both the history and the future of addiction care at a pivotal moment for our nation’s health.”—Carl Erik Fisher, MD, author of The Urge: Our Story of Addiction

Brings together the stories of two doctors battling the opioid epidemic half a century apart to reveal the origins of today's public health crisis


Dr. Melody Glenn was a burned-out emergency physician who had grown to resent the large population of opioid dependent patients passing through her ER. While working at a methadone clinic, she realized how effective harm reduction treatments could be and set out to discover why they weren’t used more broadly. That’s when she found Dr. Marie Nyswander.

In the 1960’s, Nyswander defied the DEA and medical establishment to co-develop methadone maintenance as a treatment for heroin addiction. According to some addiction specialists, its discovery could be considered as monumental as the discovery of penicillin. Yet, it still carries a stigma today.

Deftly weaving together interviews, media coverage, and historical documents, Glenn recovers Nyswander’s important legacy and reveals how the forces of racism, fearmongering politicians, and misinformation colluded to set us back decades in our understandings of opioids.

With Nyswander as her guide, Glenn also shares her journey through addiction medicine as she confronts her own personal and philosophical quandaries around bias, ambition, and saviorism in the medical field.

As the US continues to struggle with opioid and fentanyl use in communities, Mother of Methadone is a powerful reminder of the ways biases have prevented doctors from saving countless lives.
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Mother of Methadone: A Doctor's Quest, a Forgotten History, and a Modern-Day Crisis

Mother of Methadone: A Doctor's Quest, a Forgotten History, and a Modern-Day Crisis

by Melody Glenn
Mother of Methadone: A Doctor's Quest, a Forgotten History, and a Modern-Day Crisis

Mother of Methadone: A Doctor's Quest, a Forgotten History, and a Modern-Day Crisis

by Melody Glenn

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Overview

“An important chronicle of how stigma, inertia, and ignorance hamper our mental health system—a vital read for understanding both the history and the future of addiction care at a pivotal moment for our nation’s health.”—Carl Erik Fisher, MD, author of The Urge: Our Story of Addiction

Brings together the stories of two doctors battling the opioid epidemic half a century apart to reveal the origins of today's public health crisis


Dr. Melody Glenn was a burned-out emergency physician who had grown to resent the large population of opioid dependent patients passing through her ER. While working at a methadone clinic, she realized how effective harm reduction treatments could be and set out to discover why they weren’t used more broadly. That’s when she found Dr. Marie Nyswander.

In the 1960’s, Nyswander defied the DEA and medical establishment to co-develop methadone maintenance as a treatment for heroin addiction. According to some addiction specialists, its discovery could be considered as monumental as the discovery of penicillin. Yet, it still carries a stigma today.

Deftly weaving together interviews, media coverage, and historical documents, Glenn recovers Nyswander’s important legacy and reveals how the forces of racism, fearmongering politicians, and misinformation colluded to set us back decades in our understandings of opioids.

With Nyswander as her guide, Glenn also shares her journey through addiction medicine as she confronts her own personal and philosophical quandaries around bias, ambition, and saviorism in the medical field.

As the US continues to struggle with opioid and fentanyl use in communities, Mother of Methadone is a powerful reminder of the ways biases have prevented doctors from saving countless lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780807017753
Publisher: Beacon Press
Publication date: 07/22/2025
Sold by: Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format: eBook
Pages: 232
File size: 1 MB

About the Author

Melody Glenn, MD, is a practicing addiction and emergency physician and assistant professor of psychiatry and emergency medicine at The University of Arizona. Her addiction research has been published in medical journals and presented nationally.

Table of Contents

Author’s Note

CHAPTER 1
The Clinic

CHAPTER 2
The Beginning

CHAPTER 3
Bupísta

CHAPTER 4
Narco

CHAPTER 5
Flight

CHAPTER 6
Roped Back

CHAPTER 7
Sisyphus

CHAPTER 8
The Cure

CHAPTER 9
Hope

CHAPTER 10
Zenith

CHAPTER 11
The Fall

CHAPTER 12
Unanswered Questions

CHAPTER 13
Grassroots

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
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