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Addiction Treatment Forum

Addiction Treatment Forum reports on substance use news of interest to opioid treatment programs and patients in medication-assisted treatment.

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Addiction Treatment Forum reports on substance use news of interest to opioid treatment programs and patients in medication-assisted treatment.

Current News

COVID-19 Resources

  • https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/programs_campaigns/medication_assisted/telemedicine-dea-guidance.pdf
  • https://www.samhsa.gov/medication-assisted-treatment/statutes-regulations-guidelines/covid-19-guidance-otp
  • https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/otp-guidance-20200316.pdf
  • https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/sample-otp-covid-19-faqs.pdf
  • https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/noras-blog/2020/03/covid-19-potential-implications-individuals-substance-use-disorders
  • https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/tips-social-distancing-quarantine-isolation-031620.pdf

Upcoming Events

The ASAM 51st Annual Conference – Innovations in Addiction Medicine and Science 
CANCELLED, GOING VIRTUAL 
April 2-5, 2020
Denver, Colorado 
https://www.eventscribe.com/2020/ASAM/

NatCon 20
CANCELLED
April 5-7
Austin, TX https://www.eventscribe.com/2020/NatCon20/

The Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit 
POSTPONED
April 13-16, 2020
Nashville, TN 
https://www.rx-summit.com/

View More Upcoming Events…

AT Forum Volume 31, #1 December/January, 2020

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

Barbara Goodheart, ELS
February 25, 2020

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

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

Alison Knopf
February 25, 2020

“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

methadone

Study Favors Better Insurance Reimbursement for Methadone Maintenance

Barbara Goodheart, ELS
February 25, 2020

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

Surprise Speaker at NYSAM Focuses on Advantages of Comprehensive Care

Alison Knopf
February 25, 2020

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

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

Barbara Goodheart, ELS
February 25, 2020

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?

Introducing Steve Woolworth, New Evergreen CEO

Alison Knopf
February 25, 2020

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

Three Separate Programs Under One OTP Umbrella at Behavioral Health Group

Alison Knopf
February 25, 2020

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

Lawmakers Urge DEA to Move on Mobile Vans, Telemedicine

Alison Knopf
February 25, 2020

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

News & Updates – January 24, 2020; Issue 336

Policy, Financing, Stigma, and Workforce Barriers Stand in the Way of Addressing Co-Occurring Opioid and Infectious Disease Epidemics

ATForum
January 24, 2020

The opioid epidemic in the U.S. is driving a simultaneous epidemic of infectious diseases — including HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and bacterial infections, and sexually transmitted infections — but workforce shortages, stigma, and financial and policy barriers are preventing…

Continue Reading Policy, Financing, Stigma, and Workforce Barriers Stand in the Way of Addressing Co-Occurring Opioid and Infectious Disease Epidemics

Opioid-Related Treatment, Interventions, and Outcomes Among Incarcerated Persons: A Systematic Review

ATForum
January 24, 2020

In this carefully conducted systematic review, the authors found that correctional facilities should scale up opioid agonist treatment (methadone and buprenorphine) among incarcerated persons with opioid use disorder. The strategy is likely to decrease opioid-related overdose and mortality, reduce opioid…

Continue Reading Opioid-Related Treatment, Interventions, and Outcomes Among Incarcerated Persons: A Systematic Review

Effect of Expanding Opioid Agonist Therapies on the HIV Epidemic and Mortality in Ukraine: A Modeling Study

ATForum
January 24, 2020

To optimize HIV prevention and treatment goals in Ukraine, opioid agonist treatment (OAT) must be substantially scaled up in all regions, the authors found. Increased medication procurement is needed, combined with optimization of OAT dosing. Source: The Lancethttps://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhiv/article/PIIS2352-3018(19)30373-X/fulltext

Continue Reading Effect of Expanding Opioid Agonist Therapies on the HIV Epidemic and Mortality in Ukraine: A Modeling Study

Salt Lake County Program Aims to Combat the Opioid Crisis from Inside Jail

ATForum
January 24, 2020

Salt Lake County has a new strategy to combat the opioid crisis from inside the county’s jail. The new approach seeks to address the opioid epidemic by administering medication designed to treat addiction and providing patients with substance abuse counseling…

Continue Reading Salt Lake County Program Aims to Combat the Opioid Crisis from Inside Jail

‘A Different Way’: Walk-in Clinic Sees Success Treating Opioid Addicts with Medication

ATForum
January 24, 2020

Salvador Ceniceros, a psychiatrist on the front lines of the opioid epidemic, took a break between seeing patients the other day to reflect. He’s finally gaining traction at Jordan Valley Community Health Center, which gives him a sense of urgency…

Continue Reading ‘A Different Way’: Walk-in Clinic Sees Success Treating Opioid Addicts with Medication

An Inside Look Inside Kitsap’s First Methadone Clinic

ATForum
January 24, 2020

Local leaders got their first look at a new opioid treatment clinic in East Bremerton that could open by the end of the year. On a tour Monday, BAART clinic staff showed a group of Kitsap law enforcement officers, county officials…

Continue Reading An Inside Look Inside Kitsap’s First Methadone Clinic

Availability of Buprenorphine Treatment in the 10 States With the Highest Drug Overdose Death Rates in the United States

ATForum
January 24, 2020

Although the SAMHSA buprenorphine practitioner locator is used by patients and providers to locate treatment options, only a small portion of clinicians in the database ultimately offered initial appointments, implying that the database is only marginally useful for patients. Source:…

Continue Reading Availability of Buprenorphine Treatment in the 10 States With the Highest Drug Overdose Death Rates in the United States

Buprenorphine a Safer Alternative for Opioid Use Disorder, Chronic Pain in the Elderly?

ATForum
January 24, 2020

For older individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) resulting from treatment of chronic pain, buprenorphine may be a safer pain management alternative, new research suggests. Results of the review show that in general, there is evidence to support the use of buprenorphine…

Continue Reading Buprenorphine a Safer Alternative for Opioid Use Disorder, Chronic Pain in the Elderly?

Few Teens Who Survive Opioid OD Get Recommended Care

ATForum
January 24, 2020

Even after surviving an opioid overdose, few U.S. teenagers receive the recommended treatment for their addiction, a new study shows. Researchers found that of nearly 3,800 teenagers and young adults who’d suffered an opioid overdose, less than one-third went into…

Continue Reading Few Teens Who Survive Opioid OD Get Recommended Care

A Look Inside the Olympia Clinic Serving Hundreds of People Battling Opioid Addiction

ATForum
January 24, 2020

The Olympia Bupe Clinic opened at the Capital Recovery Center on Cherry Street Southeast, which also houses the county-run syringe exchange. It provides buprenorphine, which serves as a safer alternative to opioids and heroin, which is the drug people with…

Continue Reading A Look Inside the Olympia Clinic Serving Hundreds of People Battling Opioid Addiction

Walk-in Clinics for Opioid Addiction Offer Meds First, Fast

ATForum
December 19, 2019

In St. Louis, Seattle and San Francisco, people with opioid addictions can start medication on their first day of treatment. Early research suggests the approach can change lives. But it will be a tough sell elsewhere: Nearly two-thirds of U.S.…

Continue Reading Walk-in Clinics for Opioid Addiction Offer Meds First, Fast

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