Saboxthone, a branded version of buprenorphine and naloxone, is used to treat opioid addiction.
Elise Amendola/AP
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Elise Amendola/AP
Saboxthone, a branded version of buprenorphine and naloxone, is used to treat opioid addiction.
Elise Amendola/AP
Imagine during a deadly public health crisis, 80% of Americans did not have access to safe and effective drugs proven to help people recover.
a The study was announced on Monday in the JAMA It turns out that’s exactly what’s happening in the opioid crisis.
Nationally, only 1 in 5 people with opioid use disorders receive drugs considered the gold standard for opioid treatment, such as methadone, buprenorphine, and sustained-release naltrexone.
All have proven safe and effective in helping patients survive and recover. It is relatively easy to prescribe, but many doctors choose not to prescribe it.
“The lack of access to safe, life-saving drugs is devastating for people who are denied evidence-based treatment,” said Dr. Nora Bolkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who collaborated on the study.
Experts say addiction stigma and lack of training among doctors and other health care professionals often limit the use of these drugs.
According to the Food and Drug Administrationwhen used in conjunction with counseling and other treatments, these drugs can help reduce cravings for high-risk street drugs such as heroin and fentanyl.
“Everyone who seeks a cure for disease, [opioid use disorder] It concluded that FDA should provide access to medicines and other treatments.
A study conducted in Massachusetts in 2018 They found that methadone use reduced overdose mortality by 59%, and buprenorphine reduced drug lethality by 38%.
Despite overwhelming evidence that these drugs save lives, doctors rarely use them.
The latest study found that buprenorphine and methadone were “greatly underutilized,” especially among certain groups. Women, black adults, unemployed Americans, and urban dwellers were found to be most vulnerable.
Dr. Wilson Compton, Deputy Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said, “More than 80,000 people die each year from opioid-related drug overdoses, but safe and effective drugs to treat opioid use disorders are not available. It’s sitting on the shelf, untouched,” he said. said the study’s senior author in a statement.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated on the study, which focused on about 47,000 Americans experiencing opioid addiction. This data was collected in his 2021, when the fentanyl opioid crisis was escalating.
That same year, more than 80,000 people died from opioid overdoses for the first time in U.S. history. increased further last year, About 83,000 fatal overdoses By 2022, opioids will be to blame.
This latest research shows one possible solution. It found that patients with opioid addiction receive medical support through telemedicine (online or telephone consultations). They were about 38 times more likely to be prescribed the correct medication.
“This study adds to the evidence that telemedicine services are an important strategy that could help bridge this gap,” Compton said.
a Previous CDC investigation Published in a magazine in March JAMAPsychiatry Similar evidence was presented that telemedicine could be an innovative way to prevent many opioid fentanyl overdoses.
The researchers also say the medical community needs to address inequalities in how addicts are treated to reduce overdose deaths.
