Alternative to methadone shows promise for those addicted to opioids: researchers
Global News
The new study shows it is possible to offer a more flexible treatment at home without reducing the chance of success for those who are dealing with opioid addiction.
Researchers say a new treatment that is less intrusive and more accessible than what has been offered to patients struggling with opioid addiction has been shown to be just as effective.
Currently, patients with opioid use disorder can be asked to show up at a pharmacy every day for two to three months to begin treatment with methadone or morphine, which have to be taken under close supervision.
“It takes a high level of motivation to follow those treatments,” said Didier Jutras-Aswad, a Université de Montréal professor of psychiatry and lead author of a study published Wednesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
“But we also have people that were really motivated, or people that might be really motivated to be treated, but that don’t want to embark on this type of treatment knowing how demanding it is.”
He noted that those struggling with addiction are often in precarious and vulnerable situations.
The new study shows it is possible to offer a more flexible treatment at home without reducing the chance of success.
The Public Health Agency of Canada reported that more than 5,386 Canadians died from an opioid overdose between January and September 2021, which amounts to about 20 deaths per day. In 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 12 deaths per day.
The new treatment, developed in a clinical trial through the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse, is based on prescribing buprenorphine-naloxone, also known by the commercial name Suboxone.
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