Researchers reveal crucial drug in opioids addiction treatment

Researchers have revealed in their new study that residential rehab centres treating young patients addicted to opioids are not offering a crucial drug which is "life-saving" and "most effective" in treating the disorder.

In the rehab centres, there are several therapies used to overcome their addiction such as horse therapy or art therapy but one 1 in 4 centres offer buprenorphine — or even aware of it.

Dr Todd Korthuis, one of the study's authors, as well as a professor of medicine and head of addiction medicine at Oregon Health & Science University, said: “Buprenorphine, usually a small pill or film that dissolves under the tongue, is lifesaving medication for the treatment of opioid use disorder, and it happens to be the only one that's FDA approved for people 16 and older."

"It's clearly the gold standard for treatment," he added.

The research was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study noted that live-in rehab programs can charge anywhere from $5,000 to more than $17,000, with most requiring payment upfront.

A 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicated that 9.2 million people 12 and older were abusing opioids, including the highly potent fentanyl.

And fatal overdoses involving fentanyl among children ages 10 to 19 increased by 182% from 2019 to 2021.

Dr Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, stated that "the risk of mortality is very high but we know that one of the best interventions for preventing those overdoses is the administration of buprenorphine."

The research team identified 354 facilities nationwide in which teenagers were treated in less than half, 160. Some were affiliated with hospitals while others were alone.

Korthuis said: "We chose to focus on residential treatment programs because these are typically the places that take care of kids with the most severe opioid use disorder."

Caroline King, a resident physician in emergency medicine at Yale University, led the research.

Only 29%, or 39 facilities offered buprenorphine as part of their treatment plan.

"I had not realized that it was so difficult to get treatment for buprenorphine among treatment programs. This paper paints a very dire picture."Volkow said.

Some of the facilities even replied with "what’s that" about the drug.

What you should know about buprenorphine

Korthuis said: "It allows the brain to sort of reset so that teenagers can focus on their recovery, schooling and other everyday activities. Whereas previously, it was hard to think about anything except the next dose of fentanyl."

The drug is approved from above 16, and can also be used off-label in younger children.

The research indicated that some rehab facilities were oblivious to this drug being an option.

Dr Sharon Levy, chief of the Division of Addiction Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, said it was "mind-boggling that so many of the programs that treat adolescents don't offer buprenorphine."

"The way we think about addiction has been under transition from something that is a bad behaviour or a moral failing to a more accurate understanding of a medical condition," she said.

"I think that that transition is happening, but it's not reflected everywhere."