methadone

New rules should make methadone easier to get, but change is slow in many places

7:00am October 12, 2024

An effective treatment for opioid addiction is easier to get after the Biden administration changed rules. That's making a difference for some people battling opioid use disorder, but access is still limited.

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A liquid dose of methadone at the clinic in Rossville, Ga. The medication is only available at designated opioid treatment centers and that won't change. But more clinicians will be able to prescribe it.

With opioid deaths soaring, Biden administration will widen access to methadone

5:00am February 02, 2024

by Brian Mann

Bureaucratic hurdles mean just one-in-five people with opioid addiction get access to medication that could help them. The White House says new rules will help.

Suboxone, a branded version of buprenorphine and naloxone, is used to treat opioid addiction.

Only 1 in 5 people with opioid addiction get the medications to treat it, study finds

2:16pm August 07, 2023

by Brian Mann

Overdose deaths from fentanyl and other opioids have surged but medications that could save thousands of lives "are sitting on the shelf unused," according to new research.

David Cave, a recovery coach who is part of an addiction specialty team at Salem Hospital, north of Boston, stands outside the emergency department.

Health & Safety

Hospitals have specialists on call for lots of diseases — but not addiction. Why not?

10:14am September 30, 2022

by Martha Bebinger

U.S. overdose deaths have exceeded 100,000 a year, yet few hospitals are equipped to treat patients with addiction. A new kind of treatment team connect patients with help before they're discharged.

Suboxone, a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone, helps many people addicted to opioids wean themselves from an escalating drug habit. But counseling and social support are key to successful treatment, too, experts say.

Health & Safety

Opioid Addiction Is 'A Disease Of Isolation,' So Pandemic Puts Recovery At Risk

10:05am March 27, 2020

by Martha Bebinger

People in recovery from opioid or alcohol addiction are weathering a new storm of depression, anxiety and isolation these days, as 12-step programs move online and detox centers close their doors.

Sarah Ziegenhorn and Andy Beeler shared a selfie while hiking in Texas' Big Bend National Park in December 2018. Beeler died of an opioid overdose last March. Ziegenhorn traces his death to the many obstacles to medical care that Beeler experienced while

Health & Safety

They Fell In Love Helping Drug Users. But Fear Kept Him From Helping Himself

3:41pm February 24, 2020

by Will Stone

Sarah and Andy were in love and also advocates, determined to keep drug users from dying. But when his own addiction reemerged, Andy's fear of returning to prison kept him from the best treatment.

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Dr. Peter Grinspoon was a practicing physician when he became addicted to opioids. When he got caught, Grinspoon wasn't allowed access to what's now the standard treatment for addiction — buprenorphine or methadone (in addition to counseling) — precis

For Health Workers Struggling With Addiction, Why Are Treatment Options Limited?

12:11pm September 06, 2019

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Doctors and nurses are often barred from turning to FDA-approved medications that research shows to be the most effective way to quit. Critics of that policy say stigma is undermining best practice

The Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center in Plymouth houses men for court-mandated addiction treatment.

Prison For Forced Addiction Treatment? A Parent's 'Last Resort' Has Consequences

7:13am April 20, 2019

by Deborah Becker

Thousands of Massachusetts residents have been committed to treatment for addiction against their will. Some families say locking up addicts in prison isn't treatment. Others say it saves lives.

Barb Williamson runs several sobriety houses in Pennsylvania, commercially run homes where residents support each other in their recovery from opioid addiction. Initially, she says, she saw the use of Suboxone or methadone by residents as "a crutch," and

Many 'Recovery Houses' Won't Let Residents Use Medicine To Quit Opioids

5:42am September 12, 2018

by Nina Feldman

Evidence shows the drugs methadone and buprenorphine can help people recover from opioid use disorder by reducing withdrawal symptoms and cravings. So why do many sobriety facilities ban their use?

The shelter at Houston's Convention Center, seen here Aug. 29, isn't equipped to provide medication-assisted treatment for opioid abuse.

Houston Methadone Clinics Reopen After Harvey's Flooding

9:36am September 06, 2017

by Rebecca Hersher

Hurricane Harvey disrupted treatment for people addicted to opioids. Many need to get connected to a specialty clinic that can provide medication-assisted treatment.

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