In Support of Medication-Assisted Treatment

Policy Statement

Number 12

May 2003

For the past thirty-five years the only effective treatment for opiate addiction has been methadone treatment. From the start methadone treatment has been evaluated world wide with some studies that continue to this day. These studies are remarkably consistent in demonstrating that no matter what country, ethnicity, sex, education or economic background of the patients, the conclusion is that methadone treatment works!

Although methadone is the most effective medication not every patient responds to it equivalently. This situation is true for all chronic conditions; some medications may work better for a number of patients while certain medications seem more effective for others.

In the next few years as more about opiate addiction is understood newer medications to treat it will be made available. NAMA supports the evaluation of these medications that show promise in treating opiate addiction.

It is also important that services be made available to those patients that may need them. Making the patient fit the treatment as has been done in the past is not constructive or practical. Treatment should meet the needs of the patient at various levels and intensities. Some patients will require extensive ancillary services while others will only need the medication. The new federal regulations for methadone treatment allow for a variety of treatment services that previously could not be implemented unless exceptions were granted. The new regulations give the methadone treatment community the opportunity to develop services and programs that fit the patients they serve.

It is counter productive to weigh one medication against another or to pronounce one medication as superior or better than the next. Comparison of medications is harmful to the field because it promotes the idea that opiate addiction can be cured with a magic bullet. NAMA believes that the best medication is the one that works for each patient and that the goal should be to have several effective medications that a clinician can prescribe.

Buprenorphrine

The first medication to become available will be Buprenorphrine. Its certification as a Schedule III drug will allow physicians that undergo training to prescribe it. This medication has the potential to re-introduce the treatment of opiate addiction back into the general medical community. This gives governmental agencies and advocacy organizations the opportunity to provide education and to begin reducing the stigma and ignorance about opiate addiction.

Conclusion

In conclusion, NAMA supports medication assisted treatment and treatment without medication that is demonstrated to be effective for a significant number of individuals. Comparison in order to promote one medication over another is destructive and only confuses the issues. With the development of new medications treatment professionals and advocates have the opportunity to normalize medication-assisted treatment into medicine and to educate the community about it’s effectiveness.

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