Sedation Detox

Deaths and regulatory actions on the public record

Opioid detox under anesthesia or deep sedation has been offered in the United States since the mid-1990s. This page lists what courts, state health departments and the CDC have documented. The events involve different clinics, methods and decades, and most of the clinics named no longer operate.

Updated October 20, 2026. Sources are linked in the text.

  1. 1999New Jersey investigates six deaths within 72 hours of leaving U.S. Detox, Merchantville.
  2. 2001The Coleman Institute stops detox under general anesthesia.
  3. 2003 to 2005New Jersey licenses suspended; DEA registration denied.
  4. 2007$35.3 million jury verdict against Project Straight, Troy, Michigan.
  5. 2012 to 2013Two deaths at a New York City clinic; CDC report; city orders the clinic to stop.
  6. 2022Michigan investigates a death at All Opiates Detox; staffing allegation not substantiated.
  7. 2025The Waismann Method closes.

2012 to 2013, New York City: two deaths at one outpatient clinic

The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of September 27, 2013 described an outpatient clinic in New York City that performed anesthesia-assisted rapid opioid detoxification (AAROD) on 75 patients between January and September 2012. Two patients died and five were hospitalized, a serious adverse event rate of 9.3 percent. The New York City Department of Health ordered the clinic to stop performing the procedure during its investigation, and New York State and City issued a health alert advising against AAROD. CDC MMWR 62(38), PubMed record.

1999 to 2005, New Jersey: six deaths, licenses suspended, DEA registration denied

U.S. Detox in Merchantville, New Jersey, run by Dr. Lance Gooberman and Dr. David Bradway, performed office-based ultra-rapid opiate detox under anesthesia with intubation. In 1999 New Jersey investigated six patient deaths within 72 hours of leaving the clinic, and the state Board of Medical Examiners filed a complaint in November 1999. The physicians' New Jersey medical licenses were suspended in 2003 for two years, and in 2005 the Drug Enforcement Administration denied Dr. Gooberman's registration. Seattle Times, December 1999, NPR, November 1999, Federal Register, May 2005.

2007, Michigan: a $35.3 million verdict

A Kansas patient died after an anesthesia-assisted withdrawal procedure at Project Straight in Troy, Michigan, run by anesthesiologist Dr. Aeneas Guiney. In July 2007 an Oakland County jury awarded the family $35.3 million. The clinic had closed by the time of the verdict. KevinMD, July 2007.

2022, Michigan: a state investigation after a patient death

A complaint investigation report from Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, dated July 19, 2022, concerns All Opiates Detox in Wyandotte, Michigan, a program that is still operating. A patient admitted for detox in April 2022 died early the following morning. An anonymous complaint alleged the death resulted from the procedure and from inadequate staffing. The investigator found the staffing allegation not substantiated, and the report describes no sanctions. Michigan LARA report. See the All Opiates Detox profile.

Programs that stopped

The Coleman Institute in Richmond, Virginia performed more than 300 anesthesia-assisted detoxes in its early years and states on its own site that in 2001 it stopped performing detox under general anesthesia. Its current program is outpatient with light sedation on the final day. Coleman Institute blog.

The Waismann Method, the longest-running US program, closed in 2025 according to its own websites. No death, lawsuit or regulatory action involving it was found in the sources we checked. Read more.

Professional criticism in the press

Physicians affiliated with the American Society of Addiction Medicine have criticized sedation-based detox in press coverage of Michigan programs: the Detroit News (May 2019) quoted an ASAM board member calling the care inappropriate, and WXYZ-TV (June 2019) quoted a physician describing sedative use as a red flag. The providers disputed the criticism in the same articles. Detroit News, WXYZ. A 2015 Science-Based Medicine article reviewed the claims of several programs. Science-Based Medicine.

What the programs operating today say

Each profile records, in the program's own words, where the sedation happens (hospital ICU, hospital, surgery center, licensed clinic or office), who is present, and whether it uses general anesthesia or sedation. See the program list or compare side by side.

This page is updated when a court, regulator or public health agency documents a new event. Corrections.