Fear of Opioid Medications Leads to Riskier OUD Treatment Choices

Behavioral Health Business November 19, 2024
Morgan Gonzales

While medication-assisted treatments (MAT), such as methadone and buprenorphine, are hailed as the gold standard for treating opioid use disorder (OUD), some patients with the condition instead opt for non-opioid medications. Clinicians too are much more likely to prescribe non-opioid medications.

These preferences, based on misinformation and misunderstandings, can keep patients from the most effective drugs with a proven track record of improving patient retention and saving lives.

“Instead of us asking how effective these are at helping relieve symptoms of withdrawal, I recommend we ask why someone would be recommended to receive these or would want to receive these rather than use the medications – buprenorphine or methadone – that effectively treat withdrawal and the underlying brain chemistry...

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