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Results sorted by updated date (newest first)
Posted 6/16/2020 (updated 3/28/2024)
The most effective therapy for people with opioid use disorder involves the use of Food and Drug Administration-approved medications—methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. Despite evidence that this approach, known as medications for opioid use disorder, reduces relapse and saves lives, the vast majority of jails and prisons do not offer this treatment.
Posted 12/21/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released a notice of proposed rulemaking that would allow certified opioid treatment programs to begin prescribing the drug via audio-only or video-enabled telehealth. See additional information under Policy Updates below. The proposed changes come on top of recent findings by HHS of the positive impact of its revised Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder that removed two longstanding requirements for obtaining a waiver to treat up to 30 patients with buprenorphine: 1) the requirement for specific training, and 2) the need for otherwise eligible clinicians to certify their ability to provide or refer patients for counseling and other services. Rural primary care providers have obtained the DEA waiver at a lower rate than urban clinicians; decreased burden and greater flexibility in the guidelines, along with broader use of telehealth could help close that gap.
Posted 3/23/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
Over the past 20 years, drug overdose deaths have increased dramatically in the United States. Most of these deaths involved opioids, including prescription pain medications, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. These are called opioid-related overdoses and often occur as a result of respiratory depression caused by opioids, even when other medications and drugs are involved.