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
- http://www.aatod.org/advocacy/policy-statements/covid-19-aatods-guidance-for-otps/
- https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/032520%20Title-By-Title%20Summary%20FINAL.pdf
- https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hr748/BILLS-116hr748enr.pdf – CARES ACT
- https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/faqs-for-oud-prescribing-and-dispensing.pdf
- https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/dea-samhsa-buprenorphine-telemedicine.pdf
- http://atforum.com/wp-content/uploads/Mallinckrodt-Letter-to-Customers-COVID-19.pdf
Upcoming Events
The West Coast Symposium on Addictive Disorders
May 28-31, 2020
La Quinta, California
https://www.wcsad.com/
College on Problems of Drug Dependence
June 20-24, 2020
Hollywood, FL
https://cpdd.org/
Research Society on Alcoholism
June 20-24, 2020
New Orleans, LA
http://www.rsoa.org/
AT Forum Newsletter – May 2020
STUDY: Risk Factors EDs Can Use to Identify Patients With Substance-Related Encounters Who Are at High Risk of Fatal Opioid ODs
Lacking alternative resources, many people with substance use disorders (SUDs) visit emergency departments (EDs), especially after an overdose (OD). This gives care providers an opportunity to provide referrals to treatment for those who need it. But EDs may lack the time and resources to select the patients at highest risk—those who could benefit from intervention.…
AT Forum Newsletter – April 2020
New Georgia OTP Takes Patients and Deals With the Pandemic
Gateway Treatment Centers in Ellijay, Georgia, opened January 7—just a few weeks before the pandemic hit. But it was prepared. The program currently has over 50 patients; 20% of the initial intakes were transfer patients. They were living in this county but having to drive close to an hour to get to treatment. The majority…
Continue Reading New Georgia OTP Takes Patients and Deals With the Pandemic
AATOD Concerns about Harm Reduction Initiative During Pandemic
During the week of April 6, a sign-on letter circulating in the harm reduction and patient advocacy fields provoked some strong feelings. The letter focuses on mistreatment of opioid treatment program (OTP) patients during the national emergency and the COVID-19 pandemic. Three of the signatories are the National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery (NAMA) (a…
Continue Reading AATOD Concerns about Harm Reduction Initiative During Pandemic
Provisions in CARES Act Affecting OTPs
The CARES Act revises 42 CFR Part 2 (confidentiality of substance use disorder patient records) eliminating consent, except for the first time, after which they can revoke it at any time. After almost 10 years, it looks as if confidentiality has finally met its match, in a killer pandemic. What the insurance industry, the American…
Study Report: Pharmacy-Based Methadone Distribution
Eight investigators from medical centers in the U.S. and Canada recently looked into methadone access in the U.S., and evaluated the current availability of methadone treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). The current situation within the U.S. wasn’t encouraging: In 2017, drug overdose deaths in the U.S.—most of them related to opioids—totaled 70,237. Yet there…
Continue Reading Study Report: Pharmacy-Based Methadone Distribution
News & Updates – May 2020
Guest Viewpoint: Duane Dean Is There For Addicts During Coronavirus
Illinois Following up on the recent Daily Journal story regarding drug overdose fatalities in Kankakee County, here is information on what two organizations in particular are doing to educate, save lives and treat substance use disorder for the longterm. The…
Continue Reading Guest Viewpoint: Duane Dean Is There For Addicts During Coronavirus
New Addiction Treatment Center Sees Growth During Pandemic
North Carolina When Brack Jefferys and Brian Murphy opened Pisgah Recovery Services in Waynesville, they didn’t expect how quickly the coronavirus pandemic would change the way they do business. The business provides services to those attempting to control their opioid…
Continue Reading New Addiction Treatment Center Sees Growth During Pandemic
Huge Fentanyl Bust On Pa. Turnpike Shows Opioids Are Booming Despite Coronavirus Lockdowns
Pennsylvania Not only do opioid sales appear to be booming despite the coronavirus lockdowns. It could be that opioid abuse is increasing due to all the isolation and job losses the lockdowns are causing. The latest evidence that COVID-19 could…
The Pandemic Is Triggering Opioid Relapses Across Appalachia
Kentucky Public health officials also say the pandemic is aggravating the problem by forcing people in recovery into isolation, stripping them of crucial support systems and causing some to relapse. In response to this grim reality, officials in the region…
Continue Reading The Pandemic Is Triggering Opioid Relapses Across Appalachia
The Pandemic Has Changed Addiction Treatment, Some Hope For Good
Massachusetts Like other health care providers, Boston Medical Center transitioned to telemedicine for most patients when the pandemic hit. That was also when the state ordered insurance to cover virtual visits the same as in-person visits. BMC’s OBAT team scrambled…
Continue Reading The Pandemic Has Changed Addiction Treatment, Some Hope For Good
Schools Producing High Number of Students Certified to Treat Opioid Abuse
The treatment of opioid abuse is a growing industry at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and the medical and nursing schools are turning out far higher numbers of students certified in the area. While hardly an hour passes without…
Continue Reading Schools Producing High Number of Students Certified to Treat Opioid Abuse
Financial Incentives Boost Doctor Training In Opioid Treatment Medication
A new study shows that a financial incentive can dramatically increase the number of emergency department physicians trained to prescribe a potentially life-saving medication that prevents patients from fatal opioid overdose. Led by researchers in Emergency Medicine at the Perelman…
Continue Reading Financial Incentives Boost Doctor Training In Opioid Treatment Medication
Emergency Departments Slow To Adopt Proven Opioid Use Disorder Therapy
A new study by Yale researchers looking at nearly 400 clinicians at four urban academic emergency departments found that, despite scientific evidence supporting the benefits of buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, just 21% of emergency department clinicians indicated readiness to…
Continue Reading Emergency Departments Slow To Adopt Proven Opioid Use Disorder Therapy
Covid-19 Has Streamlined Addiction Medicine. Will The Changes Stick?
“You can’t put the genie back in the bottle,” said Stephen Loyd, a Tennessee addiction doctor who once served as the state’s drug czar. “This is how it needs to be — always.” Thousands of Americans who have long begun…
Continue Reading Covid-19 Has Streamlined Addiction Medicine. Will The Changes Stick?
NYC Begins Home Methadone Deliveries. Will It Have Lasting Impact on the Rules?
On April 29, New York City started delivering methadone to patients isolated at home due to the coronavirus. The courier system was rolled out last week, as Filter reported, with deliveries to patients in Isolation Hotels. The aim is to reduce both the…
Continue Reading NYC Begins Home Methadone Deliveries. Will It Have Lasting Impact on the Rules?
emocha and Evergreen Treatment Services Partner to Help Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Impacted by COVID
emocha has announced the launch of a new program with Seattle, WA-based Evergreen Treatment Services (ETS) to support patients with opioid use disorder who take methadone. These patients are at heightened risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which limited access to…
State Strategies For Helping Individuals With Opioid Use Disorder Through The COVID-19 Epidemic
In the past few weeks, it has become clear that there are specific strategies that the federal government, states, and other stakeholders can use to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on people with OUD. Most important, states can leverage the…
Laws That Punish Pregnant Drug Users Aren’t Working, New Study Finds
A new study co-authored by a University of Central Florida researcher shows that laws that punish substance use during pregnancy actually do more harm than good. These unintended consequences include keeping women from getting the treatment they need and failing…
Continue Reading Laws That Punish Pregnant Drug Users Aren’t Working, New Study Finds
AATOD and NAMA Praise DEA Methadone Van Proposal
The two big organizations representing opioid treatment programs (OTPs), on the one hand, and methadone and buprenorphine patients, on the other, were unified in cheering the long‐awaited proposal by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to allow clinics to transport the…
Continue Reading AATOD and NAMA Praise DEA Methadone Van Proposal
Michigan Pushes To Expand Insurance Coverage For Addiction Treatment
Michigan plans to expand coverage of opioid addiction treatment and overdose-reversal medicine for hundreds of thousands of state residents in 2022, something experts say will limit the number of people who die from using the powerful drugs. Two tools –…
Continue Reading Michigan Pushes To Expand Insurance Coverage For Addiction Treatment
