Some of the most recently available data bring welcome news in the national fight against the opioid epidemic. After many months of death of increasing overdose following the Covid pandemic, a period of loneliness and struggle for many Americans, it seems that we are changing the course.
The data of the centers for disease control and prevention show that overdose deaths reached their maximum point in August 2023, but in the twelve months since that time, there was a reduction in the number of deaths above the drug over the sixth.
This is an encouraging trend. But even with significant reduction, we must still register with the fact that 90,000 Americans lost their lives of the duration of opioid addiction in that period. That is about the population of Santa Barbara, California. While the change in the trajectory of overdose deaths is positive, we still have a lot to do to reduce addiction, overdose and deaths further.
Critical to continue this progress is to make sure that those in need can access effective opioid treatment programs, such as those that incorporate medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).
The three medications approved by the FDA for opioid use disorder are buprenorphine, metadona and naltrexone, everything, which have safe and effective bone protection. These medications, considered the standard gold treatment, help patients prevent or reduce overdose by relieving abstinence symptoms and cravings.
In a representative example of the scientific literature on Moud, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that the Metadona helped adults to fight with the risk addiction of deaths due to death due to excess death by 59 percent.
Although Moud can be significantly useful to stop overdose, it is unlikely that the patient produces a maximum effective unless it is combined with the personalized attention offered through advice.
The administration of substance and mental health services tells us that this combination offers a “whole patient” approach that helps people overcome substance use disorders and maintain recovery. The consensus of experts on the effectiveness of this approach is the reason why federal law requires that opioid treatment programs offer advice.
But despite the decrease in overdose deaths, there seems to be a stagnation in a broader acceptance of Mouud. Although studies and personal experiences repeatedly reflect the effectiveness of MOUD, a stigma on this approach and the medication persists, which complicates efforts to help more people treat their opioid use disorders.
This stigma arises from the fact that methadone and buprenorphine activate receptors in the brain in a similar way to opioids. The difference is that these medications activate the receptors more slowly and, for people dependent on opioids, in a way that does not produce euphoria. It is what allows patients to continue recovery with a much smaller resort of recurrences.
These characteristics of the medication cause some in the treatment ecosystem to see Mouud erroneously as just better than heroin. The proponents of this point of view make deceptive statements, such as that use, Moud is simply a substitute for an opioid for another.
For some people, complete abstinence, even MOUD, is the only appropriate treatment option, despite the much higher risk of overdose.
Some organizations, including the anonymous chapters of narcotics and the facilities of the Salvation Army, discourage or prevent members of using Moud, treat members who use Moud as lower and sometimes even ask members who do not return if they are using. Other patients find detoxification facilities, sober life homes and rehabilitation centers that reject this vital resource to treat addiction.
This failure to make Moud accessible is disturbingly frequent. A 2023 Federal Government survey found that more than 40 percent of more than 14,000 treatment facilities offered no metadona or buprenorphine.
Moud’s rejection is a tragic misunderstanding of the effect medication that results in avoidable overdose instead of better health results.
Policy formulators must ensure that the efforts financed by taxpayers to make the treatment a more accessible support of opioid treatment programs offered by the proven moud and advice benefits. In addition, professionals in the field of addiction should take advantage of all opportunities to combat harmful stigma against Moud and strengthen their ability to help patients recover.
The opioid epidemic shows signs of decrease. If we are going to continue this progress, we must do a better job to adopt effective treatment and fight dangerous stigmas. When we face an epidemic as wide and lethal as opioid addiction, we must use all the tools we have available to save lives and preserve people.
Photo: Moussa81, Getty Images
This publication appears through Medical influencers program. Anyone can publish their perspective on business and innovation in medical care in Medcity News through influential people of Medcy. Click here to find out how.