William S. Burroughs and the Apomorphine 'cure' for heroin addiction

[jonesadamd]

In the 1950s, William S. Burroughs was treated for heroin addiction in London by a Dr. John Yerbury Dent of 24, Addison Road. Burroughs claimed to have been entirely cured by Dent's apomorphine treatment (although he resumed using heroin years later). There are three 24 Addison Road addresses in London: E11 2RG, E17 9LT and SE25 4LW. If anyone knows which one of these was Dent's clinic, or anything more about him, I would like to know; but what I'm especially interested in is whether anyone has any information on the 'apomorphine cure'. Did it have any scientific basis, and if so, why is it not in use today?

[geofbob]

There is a reference to a Dr John P Dent at 34 (not 24) Addison Road, London W14, in a 1958 US report on drug addiction in Great Britain; and this seems to be the same doctor that Burroughs consulted. (Though the middle initial P is probably wrong, as most sources name Burroughs' doctor as John Yerbury Dent.) The W14 Addison Rd, in affluent Holland Park, seems a very likely address for a prominent doctor. As for the "apomorphine cure" for addiction, this just doesn't seem to have been generally effective. Apomorphine is now mainly used for treating Parkinson's disease and erectile dysfunction. A contemporary said that "Dent without apomorphine would be more therapeutically powerful than apomorphine without Dent", so perhaps Burroughs and other patients were responding more to the doctor than to the medicine.

[incitatus]

One difficulty with apomorphine is that it causes severe nausea. Oh yes, and spontaneous erections. It can also be habit forming, so its a bit like methadone...it can help some people to come off but not others, particularly those who get the side-effects.