Oxycontin News Blog

People who are dependent on prescription pain pills and other drugs may have easier access to a more discreet and convenient medical treatment for addiction, thanks to a change in federal law.

About 1.5 million people in the United States are dependent on pain pills, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Almost 12 million others have used strong pain drugs such as Vicodin, Oxycontin and codeine without having any medical reason.

Contrary to widespread belief, medication-assisted treatment does not mean lining up every day at a public drug treatment clinic for a dose of methadone or spending time away from work, school and home at an inpatient clinic.

Since 2002, doctors have been able to write prescriptions from their offices for another drug, Suboxone (buprenorphine). Suboxone prevents withdrawal symptoms from painkillers and other drugs called "opioids" because they work like opium in the body. It enables people to stop taking the drug to which they are addicted -- and often are obtaining illegally.

Many are individuals who might otherwise go untreated because of the stigma attached to methadone clinics, the inconvenience of traveling back and forth every day, or living in areas where clinics are too far away.

Suboxone may have other benefits, in addition to making treatment more easily available to a whole new population of patients.

The federal government, however, was concerned about overuse of the drug, which is a narcotic, and put a 30-patient limit on the number of patients that a doctor could treat. The limit also applied to medical groups and hospitals. A 100-doctor clinic, for instance, could still prescribe Suboxone for 30 patients.

A new law, which went into effect a few weeks ago, allows each individual doctor in a group or hospital to prescribe the drug for 30 patients. SAMHSA said it should make treatment more widely available.

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