Medical Student Creates Pilot for Making MAT Waiver Training Part of UMASS Medical School Curriculum
Lily Rabinow, MS, a medical doctorate candidate at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), recognized the need for physicians, in particular pediatricians, to be better trained in treating opioid use disorders with the use of medications.
Injectable naltrexone, oral naltrexone, and buprenorphine utilization and discontinuation among individuals treated for opioid use disorder in a United States commercially insured population
We investigated prescribing patterns for five opioid use disorder (OUD) medications: 1) injectable naltrexone, 2) oral naltrexone, 3) sublingual or oromucosal buprenorphine/naloxone, 4) sublingual buprenorphine, and 5) transdermal buprenorphine in a nationally representative claims-based database (Truven Health MarketScan®) of commercially insured individuals in the United States. We calculated the prevalence of OUD in the database […]
An Evidence-Based Recommendation to Increase the Dosing Frequency of Buprenorphine During Pregnancy
Dose-adjusted plasma concentrations of buprenorphine are significantly decreased during pregnancy compared to the non-pregnant state. This observation suggests that pregnant women may need a higher dose of buprenorphine than non-pregnant individuals in order to maintain similar drug exposure (plasma concentrations over time after a dose). The current dosing recommendations for buprenorphine during pregnancy address the […]
Closing the Medication-Assisted Treatment Gap for Youth With Opioid Use Disorder
In years past, an adolescent patient presenting to primary care with symptoms of opioid use disorder (OUD) would have been a highly rare event in most communities. With OUD and fatal overdoses rising among adolescents and young adults (termed youth) over the past 15 years, this scenario has unfortunately become more common. Fatal drug overdoses […]
Buprenorphine for the Treatment of the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
Current pharmacologic treatment of the neonatal abstinence syndrome with morphine is associated with a lengthy duration of therapy and hospitalization. Buprenorphine may be more effective than morphine for this indication. Read abstract ›
“All Scientific Hands on Deck” to End the Opioid Crisis
By Nora Volkow (Director, NIDA) and Francis Collins (Director, NIH) In 2015, two million people had a prescription opioid use disorder and 591,000 suffered from a heroin use disorder; prescription drug misuse alone cost the nation $78.5 billion in healthcare, law enforcement, and lost productivity. But while the scope of the crisis is staggering, it […]
HHS announces over $70 million in grants to address the opioid crisis
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, M.D., today announced the availability of over $70 million over multiple years to help communities and healthcare providers prevent opioid overdose deaths and provide treatment for opioid use disorder, of which $28 million will be dedicated for medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Read More ›
Buprenorphine for the Treatment of the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
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Opioid substitution treatment is linked to reduced risk of death in opioid use disorder
Deaths related to the “epidemic” of opioid use disorder are inescapable realities in communities across North America, with tags like “the American Carnage” and “this generations’ AIDS crisis” in the lay press. Prescription opioids, heroin, and, more recently, fentanyl have all contributed to a precipitous rise in deaths related to opioid overdose. Read abstract ›
Mortality risk during and after opioid substitution treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
To compare the risk for all cause and overdose mortality in people with opioid dependence during and after substitution treatment with methadone or buprenorphine and to characterise trends in risk of mortality after initiation and cessation of treatment. Read abstract ›
