In 2016, 42 249 Americans fatally overdosed on an opioid (1). Although prescribing of opioid analgesics has declined thanks to greater awareness and new guidelines, increasing numbers of individuals are initiating opioid use with heroin, and nearly half of the fatal opioid overdoses in 2016 involved fentanyl and synthetic analogues. Expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder (OUD) is essential if we are to reverse these trends.
The opioid agonist methadone, the partial agonist buprenorphine, and the antagonist naltrexone in its extended-release formulation have been repeatedly shown to reduce opioid use and its health consequences, including overdose, compared with behavioral ...
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Author, Article and Disclosure Information
National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, Maryland (N.D.V., E.M.W.)
Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M18-1397.
Corresponding Author: Nora D. Volkow, MD, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20892; e-mail, [email protected]
Current Author Addresses: Drs. Volkow and Wargo: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20892.
This article was published at Annals.org on 19 June 2018.
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