Brain surgery to cure drug addiction is strictly controlled because its effectiveness and safety have not been proved, a health official said yesterday.

Qi Guoming, chief of the Science and Education Department under the Health Ministry, said in Beijing that side effects of the surgery are still unclear.

He said the surgery is still under clinical study but is not for clinical use.

"It is irresponsible and immoral to conduct the operation before an experimental conclusion is reached," Qi said. "Therefore, we are not resuming it."

Qi said the brain surgery is a key research field and the ministry is thinking about applying for national funds for scientific studies given by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qun said last month that brain surgery to curb drug cravings is a special medical practice.

Hospitals and doctors who perform the operation, as well as the equipment, environment and post-surgery observation, must be qualified and standardized.

The ministry suspended brain surgery for drug addiction on November 2 last year because of disputes among medical experts over its side effects.

In March, the ministry held a special meeting in Shaanxi Province, at which experts and officials agreed the brain surgery is still in the study phase and cannot be used in clinical service.

The current materials show the short-term effects of the brain surgery are comparatively good, but long-term effects are still unclear and need further study, they said.

Meanwhile, the studies must be done in hospitals that have relatively good capability and the ministry will set up a team to verify materials and set standards.

The meeting also agreed to work out regulations and clarify ethical principles.

Stricter criteria for selecting patients and observing side effects were also urged.

Brain surgery to cure drug addiction was banned in Russia in 2002 after a patient claimed he suffered headaches as a result of the operation, which also failed to cure his addiction, according to Agence France Press.

By November 2 when the operation was suspended in China, about 500 patients had received the surgery.

Most reported positive results, but some appeared to have abnormal symptoms, like loss of sex drive.

(Shanghai Daily May 8, 2005)