Medically-assisted treatment for opiate addiction

As it stands right now there are restrictions on medically-assisted treatment for opiate addiction. Doctors who prescribe Suboxone and similar drugs are limited to a certain number of patients. There is legislation, though, presented by Sen. Edward Markey and Sen. Rand Paul to loosen these restrictions. Because heroin use is on the rise, this is needed regulation.

Suboxone along with counseling and addiction treatment has proved to be an effective treatment for opiate addiction. Opiate addiction is a serious healthcare problem, and in some communities opiate addicts have a difficult time finding a doctor to provide medically-assisted treatment because of restrictive regulations.

This is from Huff Post:

The legislation, known as the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment Act, would loosen restrictions on the number of patients a doctor could treat with buprenorphine for opioid addiction.

The consensus among the medical establishment is that medically assisted treatments such as buprenorphine (and methadone), along with counseling, represent the best chance for addicts to gain a foothold on sobriety. Both medications can make withdrawal less painful and can significantly diminish further cravings for opioids — greatly reducing the chance of relapse.

The Food and Drug Administration approved using buprenorphine to treat opioid addicts more than a decade ago. But federal regulations placed limits on how many patients a doctor could treat. After getting certified to prescribe buprenorphine, which is sold under the brand name Suboxone, doctors can only treat 30 patients at a time in the first year, and 100 the following year.

In areas hit hardest by the opioid epidemic, those limits have maxed out doctors and created lengthy waiting lists for prescriptions. The legislation would raise the first-year cap from 30 patients to 100 and allow qualified nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe the medication. It also would give doctors the chance to remove the patient cap after one year.

Hopefully this legislation will pass. It’s very difficult to abuse Buprenorphine, and when someone tries they are easily caught. The small risk of abuse is worth taking for the huge benefit to opiate addicts wanting addiction treatment.