“Drug manufacturer Alkermes has upped its marketing for the drug Vivitrol following health and human service secretary, Tom Price’s, visit to its plant in Ohio. He quickly praised the drug, first approved for treatment of alcoholism, as the answer to ending opioid addiction, and his word of mouth escalated sales of the anti-addiction treatment.
However, Vivitrol is expensive. And there has been little work done in comparing it to competing, longer used alternatives, which may provide a better answer to the problem. There is also limited evidence that the drug is even effective, and recovering addicts often relapse following treatment. The less expensive and more widely used buprenorphine and methadone are said to simply substitute for illegal drugs. But, not a single study has been completed comparing Vivitrol with these more affordable competitors.
Read more at: http://www.legalreader.com/vivitrol-answer-ending-opioid-addiction/
Source: LegalReader.com – June 14, 2017
See related article: A Drugmaker Tries To Cash In On The Opioid Epidemic, One State Law At A Time available at:
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/06/12/523774660/a-drugmaker-tries-to-cash-in-on-the-opioid-epidemic-one-state-law-at-a-time
See related article: Maker of Vivitrol Lobbies to Influence Legislation on Medication-Assisted Treatment available at: https://www.thefix.com/maker-vivitrol-lobbies-influence-legislation-medication-assisted-treatment
