Few physicians in the U.S. have taken the training needed to prescribe medication for opioid addiction. Advocates are seeking to change that. For most of their medical care, 169,000 residents of Kenosha County, Wis., don’t have to go far. There are three hospitals and more than 75 primary-care physicians practicing in the county, which fronts Lake Michigan in the … [Read more...] about Opioid-Addiction Treatment Is Limited by Shortage of Authorized Doctors
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Buprenorphine Treatment By Primary Care Providers, Psychiatrists, Addiction Specialists, And Others
Substantial increases in opioid-related morbidity and mortality have motivated the implementation of federal policies to expand the buprenorphine prescribing capacity of primary care providers and other clinicians. Using a national prescription database that covered 72–92 percent of the US population during 2010–18, we analyzed trends in buprenorphine treatment by prescriber … [Read more...] about Buprenorphine Treatment By Primary Care Providers, Psychiatrists, Addiction Specialists, And Others
A Collision of Epidemics: Coronavirus Disrupts Addiction Treatment
The nation has seen it before: During previous economic downturns, more people died from opioid overdoses, but fewer people entered treatment for heroin addictions. “There’s likely much more use of substances that we’re not capturing right now, either in hospitals or emergency rooms or jails,” said Gary Tsai, interim director of Los Angeles County’s division … [Read more...] about A Collision of Epidemics: Coronavirus Disrupts Addiction Treatment
Getting Off Drugs Takes a Community. But How Do You Do That in a Pandemic?
Instead of in-person check-ins, Arlene Brown says, counselors connect with their clients over the phone. "Now more than ever, it's important to have more communication with that patient," she said. While in the past, Brown may have each week connected with a patient once, she now talks to them two or three times. In San Francisco, Dr. Barry Zevin agrees. He’s the … [Read more...] about Getting Off Drugs Takes a Community. But How Do You Do That in a Pandemic?
The Coronavirus And Efforts To Fight It Could Be Fueling Opioid Deaths
All of the conditions that frequently lead to drug abuse are present: isolation, anxiety, job loss. Now the question is, how will we address it? As May comes to a close, COVID-19 had killed nearly 100,000 Americans so far this year. This must clearly remain the focus of public health policy. But there is another epidemic that used to make headlines: opioid … [Read more...] about The Coronavirus And Efforts To Fight It Could Be Fueling Opioid Deaths
