The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, has joined thousands of treatment professionals and researchers speaking out in support of opiate treatment programs. Dr. Murthy was appointed to his post in December 2014, and by the latter part of 2015 he was already spreading his message about fighting addiction and preventing the stigma associated with it. He delivered heartfelt remarks at a ...
Suboxone and the TREAT Act: What’s Taking So Long?
We’ve all heard about the TREAT Act and its effect on the availability of buprenorphine formulations like Suboxone. The TREAT Act, also known as Senate Bill 2645 or The Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment Act, if passed, means that Suboxone, Subutex, and other forms of buprenorphine will be available for more people and waiting lists reduced. So what’s the holdup? The bill’s original ...
CARA Promises Drug Rehabilitation Treatment
Now that CARA has passed in the Senate, what’s next? CARA, of course, is the Comprehensive Addictions and Recovery Act, Senate bill 524, the first stand alone bill to pass the Senate in years. This bill, covering drug rehabilitation treatment, met sound approval from both Democrats and Republicans. It's shocking that, in a year when the political arena more closely resembles a three-ring circus, ...
Suboxone Dosage: Standards, Adjustments, and Side Effects
The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) has much to say about the dosage of methadone for clients in medication-assisted treatment (MAT) programs, but it offers little instruction about Suboxone dosage. That’s because methadone is actually administered on site at the MAT facility, while Suboxone prescriptions are provided to the clients to be filled at their local ...
methadone maintenance and Sober Living
What happens to people in a methadone maintenance program, but have no place to live where they can work to rebuild a healthier life? Many people come from environments rife with violence. Many have lived in a home where one or more other family members are still doing drugs, and they can’t go back to that. There are also many cases involving a person with opiate addiction who simply has no home ...
Medication-Assisted Treatment and Confidentiality
Most people are relieved to know that when they participate in medication-assisted treatment (MAT), their privacy is protected by strict federal guidelines. People who work in substance abuse treatment centers work with regulations that are stricter than the ones that protect your regular medical records. The guidelines that protect you in medication-assisted treatment are always referred to as 42 ...
