The Huffington Post reports that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) are pushing legislation that would lift the government’s arbitrary cap on how many opioid addicts may be treated with buprenorphine, a medical aid for those going through withdrawal.
Buprenorphine, in combination with other measures, is widely regarded as the best way to wean addicts off opioids like heroin. But the FDA currently limits doctors to treating only 30 patients at a time in their first year of certification for the treatment, and 100 at a time after that.
In some states–including Kentucky–this has left thousands on waiting lists for treatment, while others turn to the black market.
The bill, the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment Act, would increase doctors’ first-year cap to 100. After that, those with certain qualifications (like being certified as “substance abuse treatment specialist”) could apply to have the cap removed entirely. Nurses and physicians assistants would also be allowed to prescribe buprenorphine.
“Unlike any other treatment regimen for any other disease, under current law in order for physicians to prescribe and use certain opioid addiction medicines, they must meet specific conditions and apply for a special federal waiver,” Markey’s office said in a statement. “Unfortunately, of the approximately 2.4 million Americans who abused or were dependent on opioids in 2013, only half received treatment for their condition.”
The American Medical Association, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the Drug Policy Alliance all back the legislation.
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Rutherford said her patients have done well on the medication. She recalled one patient who sold his Ford Explorer for 80 milligrams of Oxycontin. After a few months of treatment with buprenorphine, he had money to take his family on a vacation. She also recalled a woman newly sober with the help of the medication being excited to simply take her young daughter out to lunch. The daily newspaper in Lexington, Kentucky, recently called for more use of the medication to treat the opioid epidemic.
