Buprenorphine

SAN DIEGO — “Now more than ever,” physicians need to manage opioid use disorder with pharmacological treatment in the primary care setting, according to a speaker at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting.

From 2016 to 2022, initiation of buprenorphine for opioid use disorder increased, then plateaued prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a median monthly retention rate of about 20%, according to a research letter published in JAMA.

The American Psychiatric Association has recommended the Drug Enforcement Administration ensure access to buprenorphine and other controlled drugs through telehealth to combat the opioid epidemic and the national mental health crisis.

Initiating buprenorphine in the ED to patients with opioid use disorder was safe, with fewer than 1% of patients experiencing precipitated withdrawal despite a high prevalence of fentanyl use, a recent study found.

Patients who attended a Pennsylvania hospital ED implementing a financial incentive program to increase opioid use disorder treatment engagement were more likely to start buprenorphine compared with patients at other hospitals.

Among Medicaid beneficiaries with opioid use disorder, those with a disability were less likely to receive medication treatment and to adhere to treatment for 6 months, according to findings published in JAMA Network Open.

The proportion of buprenorphine-involved overdose deaths did not significantly increase after prescribing flexibilities were introduced in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to recent findings published in JAMA Network Open.

Buprenorphine dispensing among youths decreased significantly from 2015 to 2020 despite a rise in opioid-related overdoses, according to a study published in Pediatrics.

Women receiving buprenorphine-naloxone therapy for the treatment of opioid use disorder during pregnancy had similar outcomes vs. buprenorphine therapy alone in terms of maternal and neonatal health, data show.

Despite a constant number of active buprenorphine prescriptions, the number of new prescriptions during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly below expected levels, according to a press release from Rand Corp.