Opioid Treatment and Recovery News Roundup

July 12, 2018

Maureen Fitzgerald

ATTC Network/NIATx 

Have you been taking a summer break from the news? Get caught up with five recent news and research headlines, plus a great new Road to Recovery TV episode from SAMHSA: 

1. Expanding primary care buprenorphine treatment could curb opioid overdose crisis
Science Daily

Research published by Drs. Sarah Wakeman and Michael Barnett describes barriers to wider use of buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder, and how to overcome them.

Among the most persistent barriers? Stigma.

Hear more from Dr. Wakeman and Dr. Martha Kane on Monday, July 23, during a free webinar sponsored by the Great Lakes, New England, Northwest and Pacific Southwest ATTCs in collaboration with the Western States Nodes of the Clinical Trials Network: The Massachusetts General Hospital Substance Use Disorders Initiative: A Health Systems Approach to Treating Addiction as a Chronic Disease

2. When an Iowa Family Doctor Takes On the Opioid Epidemic, New York Times 
After arriving in Marshalltown, Iowa, in July 2015, Dr. Gastala was "struck by the number of patients dependent on opioids they'd been prescribed over the years..."

3. Dental pain and Opioid Use: Latest Findings, Pew Charitable Trusts
Recent studies provide support for the American Dental Association's efforts to reduce opioid prescription rates. 

4. Building an Effective American Public Health Infrastructure to Combat the Opioid Crisis and Other Substance Use Disorders, Writing in the Harvard Health Policy Review, Dr. John F. Kelly

cites Recovery Oriented Systems of Care as key to addressing the opioid epidemic.

5. Jails and prisons: the unmanned front in the battle against the opioid epidemic
Stat News
"Most prisoners with opioid addictions who have their medication stopped don’t have any of it waiting at home for them after their release. Instead, they turn to the streets for illicit opioids to alleviate their cravings."

To learn more about treatment and recovery efforts for people in the criminal justice system:

Watch SAMHSA's July 2018 Road to Recovery Series TV episode: Justice Intervention: Bringing Services to Scale

And while your visiting the SAMHSA site, check out all of the great resources available  for National Recovery Month 2018!

What's Your Favorite News Source?

What news source do you turn to to stay up-to-date with the opioid crisis? Let us know in the comments section below!