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Saturday, May 21, 2016

FDA Considering Pricey Implant As Treatment For Opioid Addiction

Amid a raging opioid epidemic, many doctors and families in the U.S. have been pleading for better treatment alternatives. One option now under consideration by the Food and Drug Administration is a system of implanted rods that offer controlled release of buprenorphine — a drug already used in other forms to treat opioid addiction.

Because it's implanted in the skin, this version of the drug can't easily be sold on the illegal market, proponents say — a key treatment advantage. The FDA is expected to decide whether to approve the device — called Probuphine — within a week.

The implant system includes four rods, each about the size of a match stick, explains Dave, a paramedic in a small town outside of Boston; he was one of the patients recruited to test the device last year. Dave's worried about reprisal if co-workers find out he is addicted to opioid pain pills, so NPR agreed to use only his first name.

"My implants were placed in my left arm, just above my elbow on the inside," he explains. He's been in recovery for four years — previously with the help of dailybuprenorphine pills. Last year, he agreed to be part of an experiment that delivered regular doses of the drug to him via an implant instead. He's sold on the new approach.

"I felt completely normal all the time," he says.

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3 comments:

  1. In the end, we're looking for relief from pain. Give us that with something that doesn't make us zombies and we'll be much better able to deal with the world. Constant pain sucks, but today's medications suck even worse.

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  2. Keeping people on subutex, suboxone, methadone etc for more than a few months to help kick the habit is another problem in its own. All it takes is a few weeks at a stable dose, then another few weeks of tapering and you'll hardly have any withdrawal symptoms. I know people that have been on suboxone for going on 2 years, the clinic has only drooped their dosage a couple of times and just keeps handing it out to them. I was a heroin addict for 3 years, and used methadone for a month to get off it with no probs. Been clean for 2 years now. Started using prescription pills 7 years ago. Doctors and drug companies were a huge part of the opiod epidemic we are going through right now, and they are also a huge part of keeping it going by over prescribing medications used for the treatments. Its crazy!!!

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  3. 11:28 AM - Yes!

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