A short holiday post today. Reading my newsfeed I came across an article by Jason Kletter, President of BayMark Health Services, complaining about Section 4 of the proposed Opioid Treatment Act that would allow pharmacies to dispense methadone for the treatment of opioid use disorders. At present, no opioid, including Read more…
There is plenty of nonsense on the internet, but nonsense is most-annoying when it comes from ‘experts’. I’m referring to nonsense from American Addiction Centers about Suboxone. If you go to their heavily-advertised site there is no mention of the scandals involving ‘sober treatment programs’ that filled the Florida news Read more…
I found this old post from ten years ago that I never got around to publishing it. A person doesn’t like taking Suboxone and blames the drug for the lack of change in his life. It plays into the discussion about methadone because it shows the attitudes that can develop Read more…
Can a person get high from Suboxone or buprenorphine, the active part of that medication? I suspect most pharmacists, police officers, and legislators would answer ‘yes!’, but the answer is more complicated. The people who serve patients who take Suboxone should learn how the medication works, when it is dangerous, Read more…
In the first part of this series I described my experiences working in methadone-assisted treatment, including aspects of that industry that, in my opinion, warrant serious consideration. In the second part I described steps that potential patients can take that might help them avoid spending their entire lives attached to Read more…
I described how seeking methadone-assisted treatment for OUD can lead to a lifetime dependency. Informed patients can take steps to reduce that risk of life-defeating attachment. Clinics could do the same, although doing so may harm the business model of some companies. People entering treatment, follow this advice so you Read more…
I know. Nothing brings out the boo-birds like a negative story about methadone. For the record I agree that methadone treatment, properly provided, is a vital and life-sustaining weapon against opioid overdose deaths. But too often, methadone treatment can become a lifetime curse. This is long because the story is Read more…
In my last post I teased that I would write about fake science. I’ll try to make it interesting. The internet allows everyone to do research about symptoms and treatments for any condition. If not for need for prescriptions, people could act as their own doctors. But a huge dose Read more…
I’ve been writing longer and longer posts on SuboxForum so maybe I need to write more here. This blog archives twelve years of frustration over the ignorance toward buprenorphine, at least until I ran out of steam a year ago. I grew used doctors refusing to treat people addicted to heroin Read more…
A couple comments for regular readers… first, watch for an upcoming change to a new name. For years I’ve debated whether to adopt a name centered on ‘buprenorphine’, rather than the more-recognizable ‘Suboxone’. I believe that time has come. Second, I’m going to ‘reset’ with some introductory comments about the Read more…
A forum reader wrote about concerns over a partner on buprenorphine. Her concerns pointed out a common misperception about the goals of treatment of opioid use disorder using buprenorphine, or using methadone for that matter. Her question, amended for privacy: I married the love of my life. He is still Read more…
I won’t weigh in on the upcoming election, for fear of being barraged with insulting tweets by one candidate or ‘offed’ by the other. But the current opioid dependence crisis provides a great chance to learn whether you stand on the side of ‘limited government’ or the alternative. The TREAT Read more…