Congress Made it Easier to Treat Addiction but Harder to Treat Pain

Jeffrey A. SingerLate on the afternoon of December 23, the U.S. House of Representativespassed the approximately 1.7 trillion ‐​dollar omnibus spending package, which now awaits President Biden’s signature. As is usually the case with such legislative monstrosities, the bill contains a few positive features and many negative ones. One positive part is that it repeals the so ‐​called “X‑waiver” (an X is added to the DEA narcotics prescribing license), which the Drug Enforcement Administration has long required health care practitioners to apply for to prescribe the Schedule III opioid buprenorphine as medication ‐​assisted treatment for substance use disorder. Inexplicably, health care practitioners have not needed an X‑waiver to prescribe the drug to treat pain. The X‑waiver requirement, which also limits the number of patients providers can treat, discouraged many practitioners from treating addic tion.Buprenorphine and methadone are both effective for treating opioid addiction, with some patients responding better to buprenorphine and others responding better to methadone. Unfortunately, the Drug Enforcement Administration regulates methadone outpatient treatment programs (OTPs) and requires most patients to take the methadone in the presence of clinic staff. Buprenorphine, on the other hand, is prescribed as a take ‐​home medication by health care providers in their medical clinics.Inresponse to the COVID emergency, the DEA, in co...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs