Opioid use disorder is a persistent problem in the United States and has become an important issue to medical and dental professionals. Americans are the largest users of opioids by a large margin. The importance of knowing how to identify, handle, refer, and treat patients...
Researchers are turning toartificial intelligenceto create and optimize potential new drugs to help people with opioid addiction. It is estimated that about three million Americans suffer from opioid use disorder, and every year more than 80,000 Americans die from overdoses. Opioid drugs, such as ...
Medications to treat opioid use disorder, including methadone and buprenorphine, have been shown to save lives, cutting overdose deaths by up to 60% and reducing the transmission of HIV by offering a safe alternative to injection drug use. Many patients take these medications, which are called op...
The strips give those who use illegal drugs a way to determine if fentanyl is present in their drug supply and to help reduce the risk of an overdose. Legal fentanyl is a synthetic prescription opioid developed in the 1960s and is used to treat severe pain such as breakthrough cancer pain...
Medicare and Medicaid now cover all three medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat opioid use disorder, Talbott said. Those are methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone. To help with social distancing, the federal government also started allowing treatment centers to hand...
How Drug Use StartsFor some individuals, substance abuse begins when they start socially experimenting with various substances. This can be the case with drugs such as amphetamines, alcohol, marijuana and prescription drugs.Opioid abusecan begin differently. People who become addicted to opioids are ...
Now, with the ensuing opioid crisis in full effect, the nation’s criminal justice infrastructure has finally jumped into action — but, in many cases, to deny access to the medications used to treat the addictions caused by their inaction decades ago. ...
The NQF report noted that individuals in the criminal justice system are unlikely to receive strong interventions such as medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) while they are inside the system or once they leave the system. “While Medicaid expansion has been associated with improving rates ...
spending for opioid use disorder should be a wake-up call: addiction doesn't discriminate based on age. We need to make non-opioid pain relievers more affordable and accessible for our seniors, allowing them to choose safer treatments and help to reduce the risk of addiction before it...
For many years, methadone has been used to treat heroin addiction. This drug affects the opiate receptors, and can alleviate both the psychological and physical withdrawal symptoms. Another drug that has shown promise for treating heroin addiction, LAAM (levo-alpha-acetyl methadol), acts as an ...