Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly最新文献

“I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring.”

A study in press at the American Journal of Preventive Medicine provides comprehensive cost estimates of the morbidity-related productivity losses attributable to substance use disorder (SUD) in the U.S.

“For a wise man once said: An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.” — President John F. Kennedy

Researchers have found that reducing barriers to methadone treatment via partnerships between mobile health programs, syringe services programs (SSPs), and opioid treatment programs (OTPs) can help reduce opioid overdoses. For the study, published December 2 in Addiction Science and Clinical Practice, researchers focused on patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) and unstable housing who utilized a mobile health unit and an SSP in Lawrence, Massachusetts. As part of the federal HEALing Communities Study, the researchers developed an expedited referral process allowing mobile health clinicians to provide preliminary clearance for methadone treatment. Working with SSP staff, recovery coaches, and OTP staff on outreach, engagement, coordination, and intake, patients could get their first dose of methadone within 1 to 3 days. All patients were required to complete the psychosocial intake first. While methadone is the gold standard for OUD, barriers to OTP enrollment exist, the researchers wrote, citing the need for proof of identity, lack of transportation, and limited intake hours. Being homeless just magnifies those barriers, the researchers noted. Over the course of six months, 87 individuals were linked to treatment and 64 were admitted and received methadone at the OTP. “Many patients who had previously assumed they could not seek treatment with methadone were eager to do so when barriers to access were reduced,” the researchers noted. The study's title: “Expedited referrals from community health center to opioid treatment program: innovative approaches to improving access to methadone treatment for patients who use opioids and experience homelessness.”

In a study, “Integrating Methadone Services Into Primary Care in Ukraine: Two-Year Outcomes From a Randomized Trial,” researchers have found that Integrating methadone treatment into primary care settings improves adherence to health care without compromising methadone retention and treatment quality. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine this month, was funded by the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse. The researchers stated in background information that access to methadone is limited and low- and middle-income countries like Ukraine. This can be improved by providing access via primary care, but the main barrier is “provider discomfort,” the researchs noted. They wanted to compare health care use among people with opioid use disorder (OUD) receiving methadone in specialty clinics versus primary care centers in Ukraine. The study was conducted in 13 cities in Ukraine, with a total of 1,459 adults, 950 receiving methadone through primary care, 509 through specialty clinics. In the primary care intervention group, methadone delivery was assited by “telementoring.” The primary outcome was quality health indicators at 24 months. The study found that participants in primary care settings achieved higher composite health quality scores than those in specialty clinics, with a mean difference of 9.1 percentage points. Methadone retention among new patients at 24 months was 67.2% in primary care versus 64.7% in specialty clinics. The main limitation was that quality health indicators reflect health care use rather than health outcomes.

One of the provisions of the SUPPORT Act, reauthorized this month, is that pharmacists can prescribe buprenorphine. Training is required. However, the SUPPORT Act must first be funded. Second, pharmacies must be willing to carry buprenorphine. And third, patients must not feel too stigmatized to take their prescriptions to the pharmacy. Doctors also must be prepared to get phone calls from pharmacies stating, “We don't carry it,” or other questions. “Pharmacists are on the front lines of patient care, and this provision recognizes their critical role in addressing the opioid epidemic,” said Michael D. Hogue, PharmD, executive vice president and CEO of the American Pharmacists Association. “By enabling pharmacists to prescribe buprenorphine with appropriate training, we are expanding access to treatment and saving lives.”

Research that used measures of historical and current structural racism has found that neighborhoods experiencing these racial inequities show more opioid-involved overdose deaths. The study of neighborhoods in Chicago also found that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the disparity, although even advantaged communities showed an increase in overdose deaths during the COVID crisis.

The 36th annual national leadership forum of CADCA will be held February 2-5, 2026 in National Harbor, Maryland. For more information, go to https://www.cadca.org/signature-events/

President Trump is planning to sign an Executive Order moving marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III. Schedule I is reserved for illegal substances which have no accepted medical use and high abuse potential.

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer fined Regence BlueShield $550,000 on November 24 for violations of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). “The data Regence provided, or in some cases failed to provide, demonstrates a lack of accountability for following this nation's insurance laws,” Kuderer said. “Throughout this process, Regence's staff appeared to willfully misinterpret our questions, dismiss our concerns and generally disregard their own responsibilities to their members' well-being.”