“I haven’t seen anything else like it,” said Steve Ayers, D.O., an emergency medicine physician in Aspen, Colorado, when asked about a drug rehabilitation treatment called Prometa, which he uses on patients who are addicted to cocaine, meth, or alcohol. “It physiologically changes the brain tissue, the brain chemistry.” Prometa involves three to five infusions of a medication called Flumazenil, which is used to treat benzodiazepine overdoses. In addition to the infusions, patients take hydroxyzine (an anti-anxiety medication) and gabapentin (an anti-seizure medication) daily for about a month.

The drugs reportedly target areas in the brain called GABA receptors, which prevent nerve cells from being over-stimulated. Doctors believe that this is what reduces cravings in frequency and strength. The Prometa program also involves nutritional guidance and counseling.

Raymond Johnson, M.D., an addiction medicine specialist in Fort Myers, Florida, has used Prometa on more than 200 patients, and said that about 70 percent of them have recovered completely. “I have the conviction that it absolutely does work,” he said. One pilot study also showed that 86 percent of patients that completed the program remained abstinent after one year.

Monica Dibella, a former alcoholic, and Matt McLellan, a former drug addict, both say that Prometa made the difference in their recovery. Dibella said that nothing worked for her until Prometa, and has been sober for almost a year. McLellan says he feels blessed to have found this treatment, and also has a year of sobriety.

However, the program has some critics. John Mendelson, M.D., of San Francisco’s California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, said that the treatment has not been studied effectively as the studies were not double-blind, meaning that a placebo wasn’t given to another group of patients to compare results. He also points out that the therapy has not been approved by the FDA for addiction treatment. The drugs involved have individually been approved by the FDA, but the combination of them hasn’t. In addition, Prometa can cost up to $15,000, and it isn’t covered by insurance.

“The real ethical hinge is not that they’re promoting the treatment, but that they’re charging money for it, and they’re selling it as if it was an approved, completely validated treatment,” Dr. Mendelson said.

Prometa cannot be used on patients who are dependent on benzodiazepines or are being treated with benzodiazepines for seizure and/or psychiatric disorders, or on alcoholic patients in severe withdrawal or at risk for severe withdrawal.

There are three double-blind, placebo-controlled studies underway at UCLA, Cedars-Sinai, and the Institute of Addiction Medicine in Philadelphia to evaluate Prometa’s success.