The 30-patient limit on doctors who want to prescribe the anti-opiate drug buprenorphine should be dropped, a Fall River, Mass., psychiatrist says.

The Boston Herald reported May 31 that Claude Curran, M.D., admitted that he has taken on far more than 30 patients because of the overwhelming demand for the drug, which can be prescribed in a doctor's office to treat addiction to heroin, OxyContin, and other opiates.

Curran is organizing a weekend demonstration in Boston to call for easing restrictions on buprenorphine. "This medication is less addicting than any form of treatment," he said.

Last month, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) filed a bill in Congress to lift the 30-patient cap. Curran said his current patient load is about 150 people, which struck some colleagues as reckless. "There is a great need. We are unable to meet the demand," said Daniel Alford, medical director of the Office-Based Opiate Treatment Program at Boston Medical Center. "I think it's crazy to break the law, because you are putting the whole treatment modality at risk."