Treatment with buprenorphine is easier, less time consuming and far more effective for management of opioid withdrawal and OUD than standard care with clonidine, IVF, haldol and other symptomatic therapies. Induction with buprenorphine is easy, requires no IV or labs, and is usually accomplished in 1-2 hours. It requires a chair, not a hospital bed….

There are three MAT drugs available to treat addiction: naltrexone (brand name Vivitrol), methadone (brand names Dolophine or Methadose) & buprenorphine (brand name Suboxone, Subutex, and Sublicade). The only MAT drug appropriate for initiation in the ED is buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is a semi-synthetic opioid which acts as partial agonist at the mu receptor. Buprenorphine does…

Medication Assisted Treatment or (Medication for Addiction Treatment) is an important frontier in ED care of patients with Opioid Use Disorder. Naltrexone, methadone and buprenorphine are the medications approved for the treatment of OUD. Addiction is a disease that is widely misunderstood and rarely taught in medical school. It is a dangerous myth that the…

Addiction is widely misunderstood by the public and by many healthcare providers. It is not taught in most medical schools. Combating the opioid epidemic will require providers to understand Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and its treatment. Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease with extraordinarily high morbidity and mortality. It is the transition from controlled to…