The Biden administration has announced they will be lifting restrictions on the popular Medication-Assisted treatment drug buprenorphine. The move will give more doctors access to the life-changing drug that has helped thousands of addicted people stop using opioids.
Before this action, buprenorphine administration had many restrictions on it. It is considered to be the “golden standard” for treating opioid use disorder. While steps were taken to normalize its use by the Obama administration, restrictions have remained in place for nearly 20 years.
Lifting the restrictions – which required a lot of training, sometimes yearly, and other requirements ER physicians struggled to meet – will save lives. It means that more people in crisis will have access to life-changing addiction treatment. Emergency room doctors, for example, will be able to provide the prescription for people who want to stay sober but can’t yet get a treatment bed.
What is ?
Buprenorphine is a drug that is used to treat people with opioid use disorder. People who are addicted to opioids often have physical withdrawal symptoms as well as cravings. \
Usually, people take the drug in pill form or through a film daily. It costs about $100 a month and tends to be covered by insurers, including Medicaid.
Buprenorphine is best known under the brand name Suboxone. It is considered the “gold standard” to help people with opioid addiction reduce their cravings. Unlike methadone, it is not addictive or habit-forming. It is, however, considered highly effective in helping reduce withdrawal symptoms in people who want to stay clean and sober from opioids.
New Standards Give More Access
The new guidelines announced today mean that healthcare workers will prescribe the drug without extensive training. They also don’t have to require the patients to go to counseling to continue to receive their prescriptions.
Now, the restrictions have changed to allow a prescriber to administer prescriptions for up to 30 patients at a time.
Medication alone, however, has not yet proven to be adequat4e for people with opioid use disorder. Therapy, community, and fellowship with others who have addictive disorders is also a gold standard for people who want to stay sober. This recommendation has not changed, even if the guidelines for prescribing Suboxone have.
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