More Articles in: Most Recent

Buprenorphine Joins Methadone at 11 Opioid Treatment Centers

Eleven opioid treatment centers across six states are adding office based buprenorphine treatment alongside their existing methadone programs. Patients at these sites can now receive an assessment for either medication without transferring to another provider. …

44% of Alcohol Detox Patients Return to Hospital Within a Year

Getting through alcohol detox safely is a medical achievement. Staying out of the hospital afterward turns out to be a much harder process. A new systematic review and meta-analysis finds that about one in six …

Gabapentinoid Seizure Risks Underscore Need for Medical Detox

Gabapentin and pregabalin are thought of by most people as background medications. They’re not thought of as drugs anyone would need medical detox treatment to stop. A new study out of Manchester, United Kingdom is …

New Jersey Clinic Pairs Free Naloxone With Medical Detox

The distance between using and getting help is often measured in doors and Ocean County just removed one. A harm reduction vending machine now operates around the clock outside a Toms River, New Jersey clinic …

Medical Detox Visits Doubled as Fentanyl Adulterants Shifted

When trying to withdraw from fentanyl safely, what is mixed into the supply now matters as much as the opioid itself. A study of two Philadelphia emergency departments found that visits for withdrawal treatment more …

Bipartisan Bill Would Expand Methadone Access Beyond Clinics

Anyone starting medication assisted treatment for opioid dependence in the United States can run into a major access issue. Methadone remains available through federally regulated opioid treatment programs. Most patients also need to appear in …

SAMHSA Guidance Adds Medication-Assisted Treatment Reviews

If you take buprenorphine or methadone, or you are weighing medication-assisted treatment as a next step after detox, two federal letters issued this spring may change what your clinic is asked to do at your …

Benzodiazepine Taper Guideline Caps Reductions at 25% Biweekly

Like alcohol, benzodiazepines are one of the few substances where medical detox exists because stopping can kill you. A joint clinical practice guideline from 10 medical societies has now put specific numbers on how slowly …

10% of Rural ERs Adopted Buprenorphine Treatment by 2025

New CDC surveillance numbers show that medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder has become more available in some ways over the past six years. It also showed it remained less available in other ways. The …

Naltrexone Cuts Alcohol Cravings but Requires Screening

A medication approved in 1994 is having a social media moment and the framing is doing it no favors. Naltrexone for alcohol cravings is being promoted online as the Ozempic of drinking. It’s being talked …

Medication-Assisted Treatment Reaches 25 Clinics in Nine States

For someone stabilizing on medication for opioid use disorder, switching medications has usually meant switching providers. A medication-assisted treatment change announced September 1 removes that step at 25 clinics. MedMark Treatment Centers said 25 of …

Flawed Naltrexone Study Still Shapes Medical Detox in Pregnancy

A body of research that helped normalize medical detox during pregnancy is now under sustained criticism from auditors and addiction specialists, and the questions being raised go to the heart of how pregnant patients with …