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Legendary methadone treatment advocate Robert G. Newman, MD, is retiring. But, he hastens to add, he is not leaving the field. “What I’m leaving,” he told AT Forum in February, “is the office.” Dr. Newman announced via a January 26 e-mail that he would be giving up his “formal role” as director of Beth Israel’s Baron Edmond de Rothschild Chemical Dependency Institute. He will … [Read more...] about Bob Newman is Retiring, But You Haven’t Heard the Last From Him

Peers—patients in medication-assisted treatment (MAT) who are in recovery—are gradually being enlisted into the workforce, thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Two kinds of roles are surfacing: recovery coaches, and “navigators” who help enroll uninsured people in private insurance through health insurance exchanges. The recovery coaching idea is not new, but the navigator … [Read more...] about Two Kinds of Roles for OTP Peers under the Affordable Care Act

The top state officials in substance abuse treatment approved a consensus statement in December that states that medication-assisted treatment (MAT) should be paid for by public and private health insurance plans. This was the first time that the board of directors of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) approved a statement that endorsed … [Read more...] about NASADAD Issues Consensus Statement Endorsing Medication-Assisted Treatment

Prescription drug abuse—something a whole industry of monitoring and law enforcement is growing up around—is a public health problem first, according to the state substance abuse officials responsible for treatment and prevention. That said, these same directors—the single state agencies (SSAs) with authority over the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant—also … [Read more...] about NASADAD Prescription Drug Inquiry Reveals SSAs Very Concerned About Prescription Drug Misuse and Abuse

Our first article in this series, “Becoming Addicted: It’s Different—and Riskier—for Women,” delved into the vulnerabilities that challenge women who have an opioid use disorder (OUD). Now we examine the potentially daunting barriers women face in seeking and getting substance abuse treatment. Some barriers are largely internal, based on the woman’s attitudes; others are … [Read more...] about Seeking and Getting Substance Abuse Treatment: Barriers Women Face