Opioid Use Disorder is an illness that requires medical attention.

• All patients with Opioid Use Disorder should have access to one of three FDA-approved medications (buprenorphine, methadone, XR-naltrexone) as their primary treatment.

• Medication assisted treatment should continue for a minimum of one year, without a pre-defined length of treatment, under a long-term medical model.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

Columbia University’s Division on Substance Use Disorders to provide technical assistance and training on evidence-based practices across all 50 states to combat the nation’s opioid crisis.  Read the press release here.

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: