Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price’s questioning of the benefits of medication-assisted treatment for opioid abuse doesn’t signal a change in federal policy, the Trump administration said Friday.
Price raised concerns Tuesday during a West Virginia listening tour about opioid abuse when he questioned the benefits of addiction medications such as buprenorphine and methadone.
“I think what I know about healthcare is that what’s right for one person isn’t necessarily right for another person, but I do know that if we just simply substitute buprenorphine or methadone or some other opioid-type medication for the opioid addiction, then we haven’t moved the dial much,” he said.
Price offered as a better option Vivitrol, which is a medication that blocks addictive behavior.
“That’s exciting stuff,” he said. “So we ought to be looking at those types of things to actually get folks cured.”
However, an HHS official told the Washington Examiner that Price’s comments don’t mean the agency is changing its rules or guidance on the use of medication-assisted treatment. And the agency fiercely pushed back against criticism that Price is against medication-assisted treatment.
Spokeswoman Alleigh Marre said Price supports all types of treatment options and not just a “one-size-fits-all mantra.”
“Dr. Price has argued that we should be open and supportive to the broadest range of options, from medication-assisted treatments – including methadone, buprenorphine or naltrexone – to faith based recovery programs,” she said. “One of the five pillars of the secretary’s strategy to combat the opioid epidemic is expanding access to treatment and recovery services, including medication-assisted treatment.”
HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration offers training and guidance for physicians on prescribing buprenorphine and methadone. A doctor has to receive a waiver from the federal government to prescribe buprenorphine.
Both medications are derived from opioids and are used to wean addicts off the dangerous drugs.
Price’s comments ignited criticism from addiction experts and some lawmakers that he was downplaying the impact of the treatment medications.
“Research clearly shows that medication-assisted treatment leads to better treatment outcomes compared to behavioral treatments alone,” former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said on Twitter Thursday. Murthy was ousted by Trump this month.
Addiction specialist Corey Waller told Politico that Price’s comments were dangerous.
“He is moving out of the world of scientific fact into the world of alternative facts,” said Waller, chairman of legislative advocacy for the American Society of Addiction Medicine.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told the Washington Examiner that the use of medication-assisted treatment shouldn’t be discounted.
“We need everything right now,” he said. “It is different for everybody and we need to customize treatment in recovery programs.”
Portman has been a leading voice in Congress on the opioid epidemic, having authored a key law called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that expands treatment options including access to buprenorphine.
Portman said he wasn’t worried about the impact of Price’s comments, saying that Congress would continue to fund medication-assisted treatments in addition to other types.
But some lawmakers came to Price’s defense.
Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., who authored mental health legislation that was signed into law late last year, applauded Price’s approach.
“We need a full-scale response to save lives. As it now stands, the federal government has been satisfied with a one-size fits all model in medication-assisted treatment,” he said. “But as providers can attest: substituting one opiate for another without wraparound services, without therapy, and without a goal towards full recovery misses the mark.”
Price’s comments are the latest instance of the Trump administration being defensive over its approach to the opioid crisis, which federal data shows killed more than 33,000 people in 2015.
The White House has been on the defen sive after a leaked document showed it plans to cut more than $300 million in funding for the Office of National Drug Control and Policy. The budget document, which is still a proposal, said the reason for the cut is because the office’s work was duplicative and redundant.
However, the proposed cuts drew significant pushback from lawmakers of both parties.
