Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Gamblinman22
Suboxone is an opioid medication used to treat opioid addiction and is prescribed by physicians, nurse practitioners or physician assistants to patients for at-home treatment.
By Forum Staff
The federal government shutdown is preventing Gotham and Long Island doctors from prescribing the anti-opioid drug buprenorphine (commonly known as Suboxone) that is needed and prescribed as part of recovery and treatment from addiction, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said on Sunday.
Buprenorphine is an opioid medication used to treat opioid addiction and is prescribed by physicians, nurse practitioners or physician assistants to patients for at-home treatment, according to the National Alliance of Advocates for Buprenorphine Treatment. The drug is an ideal treatment tool to wean an individual off prescription or other addiction, Schumer noted. And according to the NAABT, buprenorphine helps suppress symptoms of opioid withdrawal, decrease cravings for opioids, reduce illicit opioid use, block the effects of other opioids, and help patients stay in treatment.
New York’s senior senator also noted that in order to prescribe Suboxone, physicians must go through a process with both the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration. SAMHSA provides the training and certification needed to prescribe the drug, and the DEA registers the physician as someone authorized to dispense controlled substances. The doctor’s DEA identification and registration numbers must appear on every Suboxone prescription they write.
When a physician is first approved to prescribe Suboxone, they may only treat 30 patients at a time. After a year, they can submit a request to treat up to 100 patients at a time, Schumer said, which requires going through a second application process. One year later, physicians can now apply to increase patient limits to 275 at one time if they have such high patient demand that such an increase is needed.New York physicians and medical centers are reporting that they are unable to contact the DEA to verify and update their registration, and this is preventing them from completing the application to increase their patient load.
Continuing the shutdown would “adversely affect patient access to treatment and New York City providers’ ability to effectively respond to the overdose epidemic,” according to the City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
“One of New York’s best arrows in the quiver to beat back the opioid scourge and save so many lives is a drug called buprenorphine, and right now its access is under serious threat if critical federal agencies like the DEA continue to remain shut down for no good reason,” Schumer said.
