Drug overdose crisis deepens in shadow of COVID-19 pandemic

President BidenJoe BidenMcConnell doesn’t rule out getting involved in Republican primaries Lost files documents to explore Senate-led Hillicon Valley in 2022: Talk announces official relaunch | Google signs salary deal with major Australian media company China at heart of GOP effort to push back Biden MORE and Congress is under pressure from advocates to deal with a public health crisis that has been overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic: the rise in drug overdose deaths.

As most of the government’s attention and resources have focused on COVID-19, the overdose crisis has worsened as people grapple with job losses, isolation and the deaths of families and friends caused by the pandemic.

According to the most recent data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 83,000 people in the United States are believed to have died from drug overdoses during the 12-month period ending in June.

“We are going to resolve COVID in the short term, and we hope we are on the right track to do so. But this addiction crisis was serious and growing before that, and it’s only gotten worse, ”said Kevin Roy, policy director of Shatterproof, a nonprofit focused on the addiction crisis.

“Recognizing that we had a public health crisis before COVID is really, really critical because we have to deal with it.”

Advocacy groups are sounding the alarm on the continuing lack of access to treatment for substance use disorders across the country.

Three years after the old one President TrumpDonald Trump Michigan Democrat Dingell on Violent Rhetoric: ‘I’ve had men outside my house with assault weapons’ McConnell doesn’t rule out getting involved in the Republican primaries 75% of Republicans want Trump to play a leading role in GOP: poll PLUS declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency, and two years after Congress passed a multi-billion dollar bill to respond to the crisis, a significant part of the country still lacks access to treatment medicalized, considered by experts as the benchmark in drug addiction care.

Three drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat opioid use disorders can suppress cravings, reduce or eliminate withdrawal symptoms, and have been found in clinical trials to curb the use of illicit drugs and reduce the risk of overdose death.

But of the 1.6 million people in 2019 who had an opioid use disorder, only 18% received medical treatment, according to a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) survey.

This is in part because such treatment can be difficult to find in many parts of the country, few providers are licensed to provide it, and a stigma persists around drug treatment, both among those who use it. healthcare professionals and the public.

“This is not really up for debate, medically assisted treatment should be part of any treatment plan for opioid use disorder, period,” said Shawn Ryan, president of legislative advocacy for American Society of Addiction Medicine.

But 40 percent of counties in the United States have no supplier who can prescribe buprenorphine, one of the drugs approved by the FDA.

Even in specialized drug treatment facilities, drug-assisted treatment can be difficult to find.

According to a Government Accountability Office report released in December, only 42% of drug treatment facilities offered at least one of the three treatments approved by the FDA in 2018.

Of those who offered at least one treatment, 33 percent offered buprenorphine, 28 percent offered naltrexone, and 10 percent offered methadone.

One way to solve the problem, experts say, is to eliminate the waiver requirement that requires eight hours of training to prescribe buprenorphine, one of the most effective drugs for reducing the risk of overdose death.

Only about 7% of practitioners have obtained the waiver that allows them to treat 275 patients with buprenorphine per year, according to SAMHSA.

“Federal law makes it easier to prescribe strong opioid pain relievers that carry a risk of fatal overdose – such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, and fentanyl – than treating someone with them. [opioid use disorder]Several health and medical groups wrote in a letter to House and Senate leaders earlier this month.

The groups, which included the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Drug Policy Alliance, also noted that buprenorphine is the only drug approved by the FDA used in the fight against addiction and that can be prescribed without an in-person visit to a doctor. health care provider, making the restrictions lifted. most critical during the pandemic.

While the Trump administration decided to end the waiver requirement shortly before Biden took office, the plan was canceled by the new administration because it was issued “prematurely.” Biden officials added, however, that the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of National Drug Control Policy are looking for ways “to improve access to buprenorphine, reduce overdose rates. and save lives ”.

During the election campaign, Biden’s plan to end the opioid crisis included a pledge to make medically assisted treatment universally available by 2025 by removing waiver requirements, providing $ 20 billion in grants to expand treatment capacity and train health professionals, and suppressing. on the “barriers” posed by insurance companies.

Ending the waiver requirement enjoys bipartisan support in Congress. Two bills sponsored by Rep. Paul TonkoPaul David Tonko Drug overdose crisis deepens in shadow of COVID-19 pandemic Key House Democrat calls for ‘economy-wide’ approach to climate change Reversing many nefarious Trump administration efforts to censor science MORE (DN.Y.) and Sen. Maggie HassanMargaret (Maggie) Hassan Drug overdose crisis deepens in shadow of COVID-19 pandemic The Hill’s Morning Report – Brought to you by TikTok – Senate trial will have drama, but unsurprisingly end Democrats centrists pose a major problem for progressives MORE (DN.H.) would remove the requirement and direct SAMHSA to lead a nationwide campaign to educate healthcare professionals on integrating treatment for substance use disorders into their practices.

Experts say removing this requirement could involve more primary care physicians in prescribing needed drugs, an important step given the shortage of specialists.

But despite the fact that more than 20 million Americans suffer from some type of substance use disorder, there are only 4,400 certified addiction physicians in the United States, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

“This onerous requirement does not improve patient safety, but causes bottlenecks in treatment and a lack of providers across the country, especially in rural areas,” wrote Hassan, Tonko and others. lawmakers in a letter to Biden last week.

“This outdated waiver requirement continues to limit access to treatment, even though healthcare professionals are able to prescribe the same medication for pain management without jumping through bureaucratic hurdles.