Addiction Treatment Forum

Here’s something most people in the field know: buprenorphine treatment lowers the risk of overdose and death in people with opioid use disorder (OUD).  Here’s something most people in the field know: buprenorphine treatment lowers the risk of overdose and death in people with opioid use disorder (OUD).  And here’s what many don’t know: most patients don’t remain in buprenorphine treatment long enough to benefit from it. Six months is the shortest time endorsed by the National Quality Forum, but most patients—50% to 80%—stop taking buprenorphine after just a few weeks or months. Even the recommended six months of treatment…

Continue Reading Buprenorphine Effectively Treats OUD, But Most Patients Quit Treatment Too Early—Risking Relapse, Overdose, and Other Potentially Fatal Events

“We’re penalized because we’re so highly regulated and there is little or no oversight over office-based opioid treatment.” This is Margaret B. Rizzo, executive director of JSAS HealthCare, an opioid treatment program (OTP) based in Neptune, New Jersey. But it could be almost anyone in the OTP world. In New Jersey, however, OTPs have provided a lot of input into new regulations for what is known in the state as office-based addiction treatment (OBAT).   “We’re penalized because we’re so highly regulated and there is little or no oversight over office-based opioid treatment.” This is Margaret B. Rizzo, executive director of…

Continue Reading Explaining Quality of Care in New Jersey, as State Looks at More Regulations for OBOTs

The problem of methadone underuse isn’t new—but the authors of a recently published paper offer ways to fix the situation; ways that are both new and innovative. If broad regulatory changes aren’t going to happen, they say, the solution may be to empower private insurers to make methadone more accessible to patients by, for example, allowing it to be prescribed without the comprehensive care required under the current system. The problem of methadone underuse isn’t new—but the authors of a recently published paper offer ways to fix the situation; ways that are both new and innovative. If broad regulatory changes…

Continue Reading Study Favors Better Insurance Reimbursement for Methadone Maintenance

The surprise speaker was Mark W. Parrino, MPA, president of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD). And he was standing in for Rep. Paul Tonko (D-New York), who couldn’t make it to the New York Society of Addiction Medicine (NYSAM) meeting on February 7. It was surprising for this reason: the two men are on opposite poles when it comes to deregulating buprenorphine. Representative Tonko is sponsoring a bill that would eliminate the special Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) waiver for prescribing buprenorphine. This bill (Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act) is endorsed by NYSAM and its parent association,…

Continue Reading Surprise Speaker at NYSAM Focuses on Advantages of Comprehensive Care

There’s no question that opioid use disorder (OUD) is extremely common in incarcerated people. And yet, this group rarely receives medication treatment for OUD (MOUD).  There’s no question that opioid use disorder (OUD) is extremely common in incarcerated people. And yet, this group rarely receives medication treatment for OUD (MOUD).  Moreover: Each year, about one-third of people who have a heroin addiction are incarcerated This pool—this target population, easy to access—presents an opportunity to help many people who need itMethadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone are effective, FDA-approved treatments, and are widely used to treat OUD in the community And yet—fewer than one percent…

Continue Reading Incarcerated People Are Entitled to Medications for Their OUD; So Why Aren’t They Getting Them?

Steve Woolworth, PhD, the new CEO of Evergreen Treatment Services, has big shoes to fill. Molly Carney, the longtime CEO, is retiring, and Dr. Woolworth—at the helm of the Seattle, Washington-based opioid treatment program (OTP) for only six weeks when we interviewed him in February, was humble about his familiarity with the controversies of the day, such as the move to “x the x-waiver” regarding buprenorphine prescribers. Steve Woolworth, PhD, the new CEO of Evergreen Treatment Services, has big shoes to fill. Molly Carney, PhD, MBA, the longtime CEO, is retiring, and Dr. Woolworth—at the helm of the Seattle, Washington-based opioid…

Continue Reading Introducing Steve Woolworth, New Evergreen CEO

In Colorado, some opioid treatment programs (OTPs) governed by federal methadone regulations are combining the office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) protocol with OTP. This means that the patients in the OBOT program in the OTP can get a prescription for buprenorphine right away—just as if they went to a prescribing provider in the community. In Colorado, some opioid treatment programs (OTPs) governed by federal methadone regulations are combining the office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) protocol with OTP. This means that the patients in the OBOT program in the OTP can get a prescription for buprenorphine right away—just as if they went to…

Continue Reading Three Separate Programs Under One OTP Umbrella at Behavioral Health Group

Congress is getting annoyed with the stalling by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on mobile vans and telemedicine for treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). A letter sent in January by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Congresswoman Annie Kuster (D-NH), to Uttam Dhillon, acting administrator of the DEA, called out the DEA for failing to increase actions in the face of the continuing opioid epidemic. “We write today to urge the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to take all available actions to address the opioid crisis, including expediting two key regulations concerning addiction treatment: first, authorizing special…

Continue Reading Lawmakers Urge DEA to Move on Mobile Vans, Telemedicine