2 Reasons Why Few Opioid Addicts Have Access to Suboxone & Medication Assisted Treatment
If you have been battling opioid pain killer or heroin addiction, you have likely heard about Suboxone. It’s an FDA approved drug used in Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) to get people who are hooked on the deadly opioid drugs clean and sober safely and quickly.
Suboxone, a combo drug of buprenorphine and naloxone, is a film strip (similar to a breath strip) that you place on the tongue. It absorbs quickly and is very effective in reducing not only cravings for opioids such as oxy or vicodin or heroin, but also reducing the harsh detox-like side effects that are often associated with opioid withdrawal.
Contact the Long Island Compassionate Medical Center at 631-588-4888 to learn more about MAT and to make an appointment with Dr. Chaudhry today.
Simply put, Suboxone works in the brain to mimic the effects of the incredibly addicted, often fatal, opioid painkillers so addicts no longer crave the drugs. At the same time, Suboxone also helps the brain get clear and “sober” so it no longer tells the body that it needs the drugs.
Used in conjunction with counseling, opioid addicts can feel better fast – often in as few as three days!
If it works, why does Suboxone get a bad rap in the addiction community?
First off, it’s important to know one piece of important information — an undisputed FACT within the medical community — Suboxone and Medication Assisted Treatment is extremely effective. Not only does it work, it works fast — saving lives and keeping people sober
That being said, people in 12-step meetings often bad-mouth Suboxone. They say Suboxone is another drug and substituting one drug for another is not helpful. This simply is not true. Myths abound. Learn the facts.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), fewer than half of private addiction treatment centers in the United States offer MAT and less than one-third of opioid addicts ever get the chance to even try it. Consider these two facts:
- “Fewer than half of private addiction treatment centers in the United States offer MAT.” If they did offer a treatment option that has been proven to work quickly, would addicts still need to pay private treatment centers for assistance? Think about that.
- “Less than one-third of opioid addicts ever get the chance to try it.” This is because there are not enough physicians in the country who are trained and certified to prescribe medications like Suboxone.
Requirements outlined in the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) include the fact that physicians must obtain waivers to be able provide MAT to opioid addicts. However, according to a MedPage Today article, “Only 46,500 — about five percent of the nation’s doctors — have waivers to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid addiction”
Obviously, this is something that needs to be addressed at the government level and pursued by the medical community.
Regardless, if you live in New York State, you have access to an experienced, compassionate physician who is licensed to write Suboxone prescriptions and oversee your medication assisted treatment. Dr. Jahan Chaudhry can help you or someone you love get clean and sober FAST.Contact the Long Island Compassionate Medical Center at 631-588-4888 to learn more about MAT and to make an appointment with Dr. Chaudhry today.
