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Evidence by condition / Opioid use disorder

Ibogaine for opioid addiction: the evidence and the cardiac risk

What observational studies of ibogaine for opioid use disorder found, the deaths and QT prolongation behind its cardiac risk, its legal status in the US and Mexico, published clinic prices, and FDA-approved treatments.

Strength of evidenceEarly, uncontrolled evidence

Open-label, observational or case studies without a control group. Suggestive at most. How we grade

Not medical advice. This page reports what published research, regulators and drug labels say, checked 26 Oct 2026. Talk to a doctor about your own situation; nothing here is a reason to start, stop or change a treatment on your own.

What the research shows

  1. Observational studyAmerican Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 2018

    Treatment of opioid use disorder with ibogaine: detoxification and drug use outcomes

    An observational study of 30 adults with opioid dependence: half reported no opioid use at the 1-month follow-up, and the gains partly faded over 12 months. No control group.

  2. Observational studyThe American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 2018

    Ibogaine treatment outcomes for opioid dependence from a twelve-month follow-up observational study

    An observational study of 14 people treated in New Zealand: drug use and depression scores were lower at 12 months among the 8 who completed follow-up, and one participant died during treatment.

  3. Observational studyAddiction, 2022

    Safety of ibogaine administration in detoxification of opioid-dependent individuals: a descriptive open-label observational study

    Under hospital monitoring, one ibogaine dose lengthened the corrected QT interval by 95 ms on average in 14 opioid-dependent patients; half passed 500 ms and all had severe temporary ataxia.

  4. Case reportJournal of Forensic Sciences, 2012

    Fatalities temporally associated with the ingestion of ibogaine

    Nineteen deaths within 1.5 to 76 hours of taking ibogaine, 1990 to 2008; most involved heart disease or other drugs.

  5. Observational studyNature Medicine, 2024

    Magnesium-ibogaine therapy in veterans with traumatic brain injuries

    An open-label study of ibogaine given with magnesium to 30 veterans with traumatic brain injury (not opioid addiction) reported no unexpected or serious adverse events.

  6. ReviewCurrent Drug Abuse Reviews, 2013

    Ibogaine in the treatment of substance dependence

    A review of ibogaine's history, pharmacology and the case for controlled trials.

Each study links to its own page with the design, size, results and limits, checked against PubMed.

Risks to know

  • Overdose risk after treatment

    The GITA guidelines warn that ibogaine reduces accumulated opioid tolerance and increases sensitivity to opioids, so patients must understand their tolerance is reset to that of an opioid-naive person; using opioids or stimulants during or after treatment carries an acute risk of overdose. (Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance (Internet Archive copy), 2016)

  • Mechanism of cardiac risk (hERG)

    Therapeutic concentrations of ibogaine reduce currents through human hERG potassium channels, providing a mechanism by which it may generate life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. A 2015 review links the accumulating reports of sudden death to this arrhythmia risk. (Addiction Biology, 2014; Molecules, 2015)

  • Later death count

    A 2018 review gives a detailed update of 33 deaths known to have occurred after ibogaine, including 5 in the UK, and attributes serious adverse effects to undiagnosed health conditions and/or concomitant use of other drugs. (Progress in Brain Research, 2018)

  • Overdose risk after treatment, and methadone adds to QT prolongation.

    The GITA guidelines warn that ibogaine resets opioid tolerance to that of an opioid-naive person, so using opioids during or after treatment carries an acute risk of overdose. They give specific transition rules for methadone and buprenorphine and note that large methadone doses can themselves prolong the QT interval. (Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance (Internet Archive copy), 2016)

  • Withdrawal seizures have contributed to deaths.

    A review of 19 deaths after ibogaine names seizures from alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal as an apparent risk factor. The GITA guidelines warn that stopping benzodiazepines suddenly or within 72 hours before treatment may cause life-threatening seizures, and that seizures under ibogaine can trigger lethal arrhythmias. (Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2012; Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance (Internet Archive copy), 2016)

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Lawful ways to get it

In the United StatesNot lawfully available

Clinics in MexicoAbroad

What each clinic says about cardiac monitoringIbogaine clinics in Mexico, with their public record

FDA-approved treatment for opioid use disorderFDA-approved

FindTreatment.gov (SAMHSA)

What it costs

Programme length
4 to 14 nights
Median 7 nights, across 20 published programmes at 10 centres in Mexico.
Published prices (USD)
$1,999 to $36,000
Median $8,425, across 20 programmes at 9 centres, as published on 18 Oct 2026.

Computed from the programmes these centres publish; centres that publish no length or price are not counted. Not an average of what people pay.

Published programme prices at the listed ibogaine clinics in Mexico.

Recruiting trials for opioid use disorder

14 trials were recruiting on ClinicalTrials.gov on 26 Oct 2026, 11 with US sites, testing any psychedelic or ketamine; 0 of them test Ibogaine. The first 3 are below; the full list, by state, is on its own page.

All 14 recruiting trials for opioid use disorder

The dispatch

Laws change. Centres change. Know before you book.

A brief, sent only in weeks when something changes: jurisdictions that shifted, listings added or revised, and the research worth reading. No hype, no sourcing talk.

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