Methadone News and Research

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Mothering over meds: Docs say common treatment for opioid-exposed babies isn’t necessary

On learning last year she was pregnant with her second child, Cailyn Morreale was overcome with fear and trepidation.

22 Oct 2024

Methadone more effective than buprenorphine in reducing treatment discontinuation

People with opioid use disorder in British Columbia who received methadone had a 37–40 per cent lower rate of treatment discontinuation compared with those who received buprenorphine/naloxone.

21 Oct 2024

Heat map reveals state-by-state landscape of opioid dependence

Today FAIR Health released the Opioid Tracker, a free, interactive tool tracking opioid abuse and dependence state by state. A brief released simultaneously offers a user's guide to the Opioid Tracker.

26 Sep 2024

Study reveals limited access to opioid treatment in US jails

A new look into addiction treatment availability in the U.S. criminal justice system reveals that fewer than half (43.8%) of 1,028 jails surveyed across the nation offered any form of medication for opioid use disorder, and only 12.8% made these available to anyone with the disorder.

24 Sep 2024

Low-dose ketamine eases fentanyl withdrawal symptoms

Drug overdose is the leading cause of injury deaths in young adults in the United States, with fentanyl causing over 70,000 deaths annually.

17 Sep 2024

Study reveals significant increase in drug overdoses in Colombia among young women

Overdose rates in Colombia involving illegal opioids, hallucinogens, stimulants and sedative psychotropic medication increased greatly during 2018-2021, mainly caused by overdoses in young women, according to a study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

12 Sep 2024

North Carolina's residential opioid treatment services lack evidence-based approaches

A new study of organizations that claim to provide residential opioid substance use services in North Carolina found that only 12% of the organizations were licensed by the state to provide residential substance use treatment. What's more, only about a quarter of the organizations even allowed patients to access the only treatment for opioid use disorder proven to reduce overdose deaths.

29 Aug 2024

New implantable device could revolutionize opioid overdose response

A swine model to demonstrate the potential of an implantable system for opioid safety (iSOS).

19 Aug 2024

States set minimum staffing levels for nursing homes. Residents suffer when rules are ignored or waived.

For hours, John Pernorio repeatedly mashed the call button at his bedside in the Heritage Hills nursing home in Rhode Island.

12 Jul 2024

Lifesaving drugs and police projects mark first use of opioid settlement cash in California

Sonja Verdugo lost her husband to an opioid overdose last year. She regularly delivers medical supplies to people using drugs who are living — and dying — on the streets of Los Angeles. And she advocates at Los Angeles City Hall for policies to address addiction and homelessness.

12 Jul 2024

Survey reveals public awareness gaps in opioid use disorder treatment by primary care physicians

Results from a national survey indicate that many Americans, 61%, are unaware that primary care physicians can prescribe medications for opioid use disorder, and 13% incorrectly believed that they could not.

28 Jun 2024

Only a third of outpatient mental health facilities offer medication for opioid use disorders

Only a third of outpatient community mental health treatment facilities in 20 states with the highest opioid related overdose deaths report offering medication treatment for opioid use disorders, suggesting efforts may be needed to strengthen such services, according to a new RAND study.

18 Jun 2024

Study highlights benefits of ADHD medications for pregnant patients with opioid use disorder

Opioid overdoses for pregnant patients are at an all-time high in the United States, even as overall numbers are improving.

13 Jun 2024

Mindfulness training reduces dropout rates and relapses in opioid addiction treatment

Supplementing standard opioid addiction treatment with Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) -; an intervention that incorporates mindfulness training, savoring skills, and cognitive reappraisal -; cuts program dropout rates by 59 percent and relapses by 42 percent, according to Rutgers-led research.

6 May 2024

Study shows surge in buprenorphine prescriptions at community health clinics

The number of health care professionals able to write a prescription for a key medication to treat addiction quadrupled at community health clinics from 2016 to 2021, according to a new study by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University.

26 Apr 2024

Opioid dependence in Scotland remains high but largely stable, study shows

Opioid dependence in Scotland remains high but largely stable, according to a new University of Bristol-led analysis published in Addiction today [18 April] and by Public Health Scotland.

17 Apr 2024

UT Health San Antonio launches Be Well Institute for substance use research and treatment

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) is establishing the Be Well Institute on Substance Use and Related Disorders, a pioneering initiative dedicated to advancing research, education and evidence-based treatments.

3 Apr 2024

Telemedicine doubles HCV treatment success for opioid use disorder patients

People with opioid use disorder who have hepatitis C virus (HCV) were twice as likely to be successfully treated and cured from HCV if they received facilitated telemedicine treatment at their opioid treatment program (OTPs) than if they were referred off-site to another provider.

3 Apr 2024

A paramedic was skeptical about this Rx for stopping repeat opioid overdoses. Then he saw it help.

Fire Capt. Jesse Blaire steered his SUV through the mobile home park until he spotted the little beige house with white trim and radioed to let dispatchers know he'd arrived.

25 Mar 2024

The state of the union is … busy

President Joe Biden is working to lay out his health agenda for a second term, even as Congress races to finish its overdue spending bills for the fiscal year that began last October.

7 Mar 2024