For years, people familiar with the benefits of buprenorphine have wondered– who is the idiot standing in the way of increasing access to this life-saving treatment? One of the idiots was recently identified, when an open-records request by the Huffington Post uncovered a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell from West Huddleston, then-CEO of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.
In the letter, Huddleston wrote that allowing doctors to see more than the current limit allows ‘will result in the expanded use of buprenorphine in a manner that is less responsible and presents greater risk to the health and safety of the individuals and communities we both serve.’ The Huffington Post correctly points out that over 28,000 Americans died from opioid overdose in 2014, when the letter was written.
People familiar with buprenorphine know that the medication virtually eliminates the risk of death by overdose– even when taken incorrectly. The anti-medication lobby, fueled by the large profits of revolving-door ‘abstinence-based’ treatments, has used fear of diversion of buprenorphine as a weapon against greater access to the medication. But stories about diversion always fail to mention key facts about buprenorphine– for example that of the 30,000 US opioid overdose deaths last year, only about 40 had buprenorphine identified as one of the drugs in the bloodstream at the time of death. And of those 30,000 deaths, none were CAUSED by buprenorphine.
There have been overdose deaths that were in-part due to buprenorphine or buprenorphine/naloxone medications (i.e. Suboxone, Bunavail, and Zubsolv). But such deaths are rare. In order for buprenorphine to contribute to overdose, the victim must 1. Have a low tolerance to opioids, and 2. Have a low tolerance to a second respiratory depressant, taken around the same time in sufficient amount. In other words, someone physically dependent on opioids cannot overdose on buprenorphine. In fact, buprenorphine products would precipitate severe withdrawal if taken by opioid addicts within a few hours of heroin, oxycodone, or other opioid use.
Drug courts in my area tend to avoid medication assisted treatments, with the exception of Vivitrol or IM Naltrexone. There is no evidence that blocking opioid receptors for a year has any effect on death rates from opioids. Studies have reported that patients who stay compliant with treatment, who return each month for another injection of naltrexone, don’t waste their money on agonists that would have no effect on them. But what happens 6-12 months later, when probation ends and those patients are no-longer required to take naltrexone?
I wish I could tell you what happens– but I can’t, because nobody has done the studies to find out. The cynic in me takes it further, wondering if anyone even cares what happens when people are temporarily maintained on naltrexone and then allowed to stop the medication? I’ve asked physicians, prosecutors, and law enforcement the same question: what happens to the person when the naltrexone is discontinued? In response I usually hear ‘what do you mean?’ Or ‘how would I know, since I don’t see them anymore?’, or ‘I assume they do fine… don’t they?’
I don’t see much concern when I explain that people who stop naltrexone are in a state of ‘reverse tolerance’ making them more susceptible to death by overdose. So I remind them of the large number of overdose deaths in people who were recently released from a controlled environment, such as residential treatment or incarceration, after tolerance dropped to normal levels. Maybe I’ll point out the Australian studies that show a 12-fold higher death rate in addicts who were maintained on naltrexone. But by that time I’ve lost the person’s attention– just as their attention leaves each addict when his/her probation expires. ‘Not my problem anymore.’
Huddleston is no longer the CEO, but the NADCP continues to express a muddled message about buprenorphine medications. If you have a minute, you might consider educating the NADCP staff about the value of buprenorphine treatment.
Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Burwell says changes to the cap are coming. I received 12 calls last week from people looking for help. I’ll keep telling them to try to be patient.
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