The Double-Edged Drug: Addiction Treatment With a Dark Side

March 2, 2016

High hopes for buprenorphine, an effective treatment for opioid addiction, have been tempered by a messy reality: health complications and deaths, unscrupulous doctors and a reputation as a street drug.     (Source: NYT Health) MedWorm Sponsor Message: Directory of the best January Sales in the UK. Find the best Christmas presents too.

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NY Times on the Dark Side of Buprenorphine

March 2, 2016

A very long article in the New York Times this morning examines both the benefits and considerable adverse consequences of using buprenorphine to treat opiate addiction. The piece points out that although many people have not heard of buprenorphine, its $1.55 billion in U.S. sales last year topped even the figures for Viagra. And with the […]

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The Double-Edged Drug: At Clinics, Tumultuous Lives and Turbulent Care

March 2, 2016

The divided world of buprenorphine clinics serves as a crossroads where addicts’ tumultuous lives converge with a turbulent treatment environment.     (Source: NYT Health)

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'Messy Reality' of Buprenorphine Highlighted in Sunday Times (FREE)

March 2, 2016

By Amy Orciari Herman Buprenorphine (Suboxone, Subutex), once hailed as a “holy grail” in addiction medicine, “has become both medication and dope: a treatment with considerable successes and also failures, as well as a street and prison drug bedeviling local authorities,” … (Source: Physician’s First Watch current issue)

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Effects of HCV seropositive status on buprenorphine pharmacokinetics in opioid-dependent individuals.

March 2, 2016

CONCLUSIONS: HCV infection was associated with higher plasma concentrations of buprenorphine and buprenorphine metabolites. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS: Findings suggest the potential for opioid toxicity among HCV-infected patients treated with buprenorphine/naloxone, and possible hepatotoxic effects related to increased buprenorphine exposure. HCV-infected patients receiving buprenorphine may need lower doses to maintain therapeutic plasma concentrations. (Am […]

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Houston Pain Management Now Offering Outpatient Drug Rehab with a…

March 2, 2016

Houston Pain management is now offering outpatient drug rehab treatment with a licensed, Board Certified Suboxone provider. Suboxone has been a revolutionary treatment for drug addiction treatment,…(PRWeb January 15, 2014)Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/drugrehabhouston/drugaddictiontreatment/prweb11482957.htm (Source: PRWeb: Medical Pharmaceuticals) MedWorm Sponsor Message: Directory of the best January Sales in the UK. Find the best Christmas […]

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Outcomes among Buprenorphine-naloxone primary care patients after hurricane Sandy.

March 2, 2016

CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the relative adaptability of public sector office-based buprenorphine treatment during and after a significant natural disaster. Only minimal increases in self-reported substance use were reported despite many disruptions to regular buprenorphine supplies and previous daily doses. Informal supplies of substitute buprenorphine from family and friends was common. Remote telephone refill support […]

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Tox on the Web: the resurgence of heroin abuse, and more

March 2, 2016

  The death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman last week prompted a slew of articles about the related problems of prescription opioid abuse and heroin addiction. In the Washington Post, Joel Achenbach points out that despite the recent spike in deaths from heroin overdose, recent data indicated that “[p]rescription opioids are killing Americans at more than […]

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Letter to the Editor

March 2, 2016

I was very encouraged by the stark reality so clearly delineated by Ms. Coggins (Letter to the Editor, January 2014) concerning the inability of nurse practitioners (NPs) to prescribe the drugs (Suboxone and Zubsolv) now available for opioid dependence. There is an epidemic of opioid deaths, particularly within the New York City area. My particular […]

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Barriers to primary care physicians prescribing buprenorphine.

March 2, 2016

CONCLUSION Interventions before and after training are needed to increase the number of physicians who offer buprenorphine for treatment of addiction. Targeting physicians in clinics that agree in advance to institute services, coupled with technical assistance after they have completed their training, their clinical teams, and their administrations is likely to help more physicians become […]

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