Click here to listen on Spotify There have been huge changes at the federal level regarding the prescribing of medications for opioid use disorder, particularly regarding buprenorphine. For two decades since the DATA 2000 law, addiction clinicians had to get a specialized waiver through the DEA to prescribe buprenorphine, and
Category: Medications
(Podcast) How Peer Recovery Patches Treatment Gaps
If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you know that there is strong evidence for the effectiveness of addiction treatment, and that the biggest obstacle we face in combating the overdose crisis is an overall lack of access to that treatment. Health insurance is of course a
(Podcast) What’s Happening with the Opioid Abatement Settlements?
Starting with the multiple guilty pleas from Purdue Pharma in 2020, thousands of lawsuits across the country have lead to a series of settlements from numerous pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors for their role in the opioid crisis. From just the first and second wave of settlements with Cardinal Health, Janssen,
(Podcast) Organizational Failure: How Bad Business Caused the Opioid Crisis
Purdue Pharma. Johnson and Johnson. CVS. Walgreens. I could keep going. Drug manufacturers and distributors have rightly come under scrutiny in light of the opioid abatement settlements. As these companies start paying hundreds of millions of dollars out across the country, in an effort to try to make up for
Xylazine Fact Sheet
SMART has made available a fact sheet on Xylazine, highlighting all the information we currently know on this drug, including trends, presentations, treatment, and more. Please download and share! Download PDF | Full Text
(Podcast) The New CDC Guidelines: Correcting Past Mistakes
At the end of 2022, the CDC released new prescribing guideline for opioids, replacing their last set from 2016. Excluding patients with cancer and other terminal illnesses, this guideline strongly emphasizes alternatives to opioids and urges extreme caution for physicians considering new opioid prescriptions, while also recommending how to appropriately
Naloxone Access Update: Over-the-counter Narcan expected in March, 2023
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. has announced that the FDA has fast-tracked their application for an over-the-counter (OTC) version of their trademarked Narcan nasal spray, and are anticipating approval as early as March 29th, 2023. A week prior, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf issued an open call for such applications, promising to assign
Guest Column: How mental health and substance abuse treatment help incarcerated Tennesseans
Read the full article at The Tennessean. Changes to telehealth policy enable mental health and substance abuse treatment programs. This is crucial, as the rate of incarceration is increasing the most in rural areas. About two-thirds of all incarcerated Tennesseans meet the criteria for a diagnosable substance use disorder. This
New Podcast Episode: Criminal Justice Reform
If there’s one thing Tennesseans can agree on, it’s that the criminal justice system needs some improvements. In the summer of 2021, the Reentry Success Act and Alternatives to Incarceration Act passed; at the same time telehealth permissions expanded. Jeremy talks with Judge Duane Slone and Dr. Stephen Loyd about
Guest Column: Telehealth can help thousands of recovering Tennesseans by adding more online medical providers
Read the full article at The Tennessean. In 2020, there were only 1,007 providers in Tennessee capable of prescribing buprenorphine, a safe and effective medication for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). However, in that same year it was estimated that at least 70,000 Tennesseans had OUD. While this