Group therapy is great, but a medical condition requires medical care
Opioid addiction is an illness and should be treated like one.
More than 60,000 Americans were killed by a drug overdose last year.
Most of these deaths involve painkillers or other opioids.
Over 2.5 million Americans are addicted to opioids but fewer than 50% of private sector treatment programs offer medications for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and only one-third of patients in those programs receive them.
Traditional treatment, which begins with detox and relies on lifelong abstinence, is no match for today’s opioid addiction. Like other medical conditions, to stabilize and manage opioid use disorder requires a medical model, using one of three FDA-approved medications. These medications significantly diminish cravings and reduce the risk of relapse.
We’re killing Americans by not providing them with medical treatment. Driven by opioid addiction, drug overdose deaths are now the leading cause of death among Americans under the age of 50.
Our elected officials and leaders must address this crisis now!
Opioid Use Disorder is an illness that requires medical attention.
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All patients with Opioid Use Disorder should have access to one of three FDA-approved medications (buprenorphine, methadone, XR-naltrexone) as their primary treatment.
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Medication assisted treatment should continue for a minimum of one year, without a pre-defined length of treatment, under a long-term medical model.
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As detoxification alone for Opioid Use Disorder is an ineffective and potentially dangerous practice, it should not be the choice for most patients. The primary goal should be to stabilize patients on FDA-approved medications.
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12-step based approaches are insufficient and dangerous when used to stabilize and treat patients with Opioid Use Disorder. 12 step-based treatment does not protect against overdose and should only be introduced as an option in combination with pharmacological treatment and medical supervision.
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Financial and insurance barriers to treatment should be removed to hasten same-day access to evidence-based treatment nationwide.
Speak to your doctor about Opioid Use Disorder.
We need to hear their voices.
More than 60,000 Americans are killed by a drug overdose each year.
Trying to understand what 60,000 deaths per year looks like?
Here’s some perspective:
The Research Agrees
Featured Video
Stop the Spiral is a call to action to increase awareness of and access to evidence-based medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD). The Hey Charlie video, told from the perspective of a teenager and his family, shows how quickly the use of banned substances in social situations almost seamlessly spirals into an addiction to opiates.