Methadone is a powerful, synthetic painkiller, or opioid, developed in Germany in 1937.

The formula made it to the United States after World War II and was used to treat migraines, advanced cancer, painful nerve disorders and to ease child birth.

But doctors quickly learned it could be deadly.

Children in England and Germany were dying after taking methadone in cough syrup.

In the United States, young and old alike suffered the same deadly fate due to improper doses or misuse. Methadone use declined.

It wasn’t until the mid-1960s that the drug was tested to treat addictions to heroin, morphine and other pain medicines.

These days recovering addicts and those trying to stop popping pain pills can pick up a daily dose of methadone at licensed clinics. Often federal dollars subsidize the treatment.

Methadone use is skyrocketing, as are its dangerous and deadly side effects.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published statistics in 2009 showing the number of methadone prescriptions increased by nearly 700 percent between 1998 and 2006.

The National Center for Health Statistics shows that methadone-related poisoning deaths increased from 786 deaths in 1999 to 4,462 deaths in 2005.