Mother of Methadone

A Doctor's Quest, a Forgotten History, and a Modern-Day Crisis

By: Melody Glenn MD

Brings together the narratives of two women doctors—Dr. Marie Nyswander and Dr. Melody Glenn—battling the same public health crisis half a century apart to reveal the origins of today's epidemic, and unpack lessons learned by forgotten scientists, historians, and activists

Dr. Melody Glenn didn’t expect to find herself working with addiction patients when she started out in medicine. Like most physicians she’s encountered, she harbored a set of conscious and unconscious beliefs about addicts—she even sometimes resented them. Once she realized how effective harm reduction treatments like methadone could be, she set out to discover why these treatments weren’t used more broadly. This led her to Dr. Marie Nyswander.

In the 1960’s, Dr. Nyswander defied the DEA and medical establishment to co-develop methadone maintenance as a treatment for heroin addiction. To do so, she risked her medical license, her career, and even jail time. Over the decades that followed, study after study confirmed that methadone and its sister drug, buprenorphine, were superior to psychosocial treatments alone. According to some addiction specialists, the discovery of methadone maintenance could be considered as monumental as the discovery of penicillin.

In spite of Dr. Nyswander’s gigantic impact on the world of addiction treatment, her legacy is rarely celebrated. In Mother of Methodone, we see how the forces of racism, fearmongering politicians, and misinformation colluded to set us back decades in our understanding of opioids. As Dr. Glenn worked to uncover Dr. Nyswander’s story—incorporating interviews, media coverage, and historical documents—she found a guiding star in her journey through addiction medicine.

©2025 Melody Glenn (P)2025 Beacon Press Audio