Mainstreaming Methadone to Save Lives

May 27, 2022

doctor consulting patient

In the past 2 decades, opioid use disorder (OUD) cost over half a million lives in the US alone, fueled by unethical practices from several drugmakers. Coming off opioid medication is a painful, difficult process that can be facilitated with methadone therapy. However, methadone treatment must take place in specific care settings with strict guidelines, limiting access to vulnerable patients. A new Health Affairs article covers how the current treatment paradigm harms patients and how bringing methadone to general clinical settings could save lives

According to the authors, “The structure of methadone treatment, which must be delivered at licensed opioid treatment programs (OTPs), starkly contrasts with the outpatient treatment of other chronic medical conditions in the US. Patients receiving methadone at an OTP must report a minimum of six days per week for medication administration during the first 90 days of treatment, which frequently interferes with employment, childcare, and other daily priorities. Allowance of take-home medication slowly increases thereafter only if certain requirements are met.”

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(Source: Health Affairs, May 27th, 2022)

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