COVID-19: Revising our attitudes toward agonist medications and their diversion

The COVID-19 pandemic led government regulators to relax prescribing rules for buprenorphine and methadone, the agonist medications that effectively treat opioid use disorder, allowing for take home supplies of up to 28 days. These changes prioritized the availability of these medications over concerns about their misuse and diversion, and they provided a means for overdose prophylaxis during the highly uncertain conditions of the pandemic. In considering how to capitalize on this shift, research should determine the extent to which increased diversion has occurred as a result, and what the consequences may have been.
Source: Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: research