There have been 12 drug overdoses at Canberra's adult jail and three at the juvenile jail, internal prison reports show.
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But it is impossible to know whether the overdoses were due to staff error, or to prisoner connivance, because ACT Health has refused to release any details about the incidents, including when they took place and the circumstances in which they occurred.
The Canberra Times sought access under freedom of information laws to incident reports describing overdoses on methadone or other drugs at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, which opened to prisoners in March 2009, and Bimberi Youth Justice Centre, which officially opened in September 2008.
However, the authority has claimed it is not in the public interest to release the information, and claimed the privacy of prisoners and staff would be put at risk if the incidents were described in any detail.
ACT Health instead provided brief descriptions of the 12 overdoses at the AMC.
The documents show:
* One prisoner was given medication meant for another inmate with a ''similar name''.
* Another prisoner was given a double dose of Risperidone, an anti-psychotic medication used to treat schizophrenia and the effects of bipolar disorder.
* Four staff were involved in two similar ''high-risk'' incidents in which prisoners were given double doses of methadone.
In both cases staff admitted they did not follow normal procedures when administering methadone and were consequently directed to undertake two to four weeks' training with the Alcohol and Drugs Program.
All staff later agreed to follow a ''no dosing sheet, no methadone'' policy.
The heavily-redacted reports noted the incidents had the ''potential to attract immediate significant media attention''.
* Another prisoner drank an ''undisclosed'' amount of methadone, which had been stored in a pineapple juice box, resulting in an opioid overdose.
An ambulance was called to revive the man.
The incident, described as ''high-risk'' with a ''moderate'' outcome, was completely suppressed.
* A prisoner was given another patient's methadone dose, which was more than double the required dose.
* Two other overdoses were due to ''medication errors''.
An ACT Health spokeswoman said after an internal review it changed to Biodone, a water-based methadone formula, last month. Biodone is the same formula provided through the opioid management program at the Canberra Hospital.
''There is anecdotal evidence in custodial environments that it can reduce the risk of diversion,'' she said.
Opposition corrections spokesman Jeremy Hanson said the methadone overdoses ''made a mockery'' of the Government's intention to administer a needle-and-syringe program at the jail.
''They've changed the way they administer the methadone, and that would also suggest systemic problems with the way that was managed.''
The ACT Health spokeswoman said medication errors were inevitable in health care environments.
''Most health systems, including the ACT's, have measures in place to minimise medication errors, but despite their efforts, errors do occur,'' she said.
She said that since the AMC and Bimberi opened there had been more than 180,000 doses of medication administered by Health staff, with only a small number of medication overdoses.
''This represents a very small percentage of the overall doses indicating that our overall system for medication administration is of a high standard,'' she said.
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said all jail medication errors were reviewed immediately.
''Health is a human-based system and unfortunately at times people make mistakes,'' she said. Systems were in place to ensure any errors were reviewed and results acted upon.
''There is no link between medication errors, which occur in all health settings, and a proposed needle-and-syringe program at the AMC.
''Mr Hanson is opposed to any efforts to manage the transmission of blood-borne viruses within our correctional facilities and will use every opportunity to campaign against it.''