In 2021, nearly 107,000 Americans died of a drug overdose and 75 percent of those deaths involved an opioid.
Yet a recent study found that only one in five adults with opioid use disorder are getting medications that could save their lives.
According to The National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health, an estimated 2.5 million Americans suffer from opioid use disorder but Dr. Andrew Migliaccio, a psychiatrist and the medical director for Memorial Outpatient Behavioral Health, believes the survey findings greatly underestimate the true figure.
“It’s probably two or three times higher than two point five million it’s probably it’s probably six or seven million, so obviously there’s a huge public health interest in making sure these people get to the help they need,” he said.
While the study didn’t explain why 80 percent of people who need help aren’t getting it, Migliaccio said long held beliefs may come into play.
“There’s kind of this historical concept that you’re not sober if you’re taking medication but we have taken great strides to kind of redefine what recovery looks like and often times recovery is assisted by medication support which allows people to become stable and live more normal lives,” he said.
Those medications include buprenorphine, suboxone, naltrexone, vivitrol and in some cases, methadone, which are all considered safe and effective.
“One of the findings in the study was that people who received these lifesaving medications were more likely to have received treatment via telehealth, so telehealth seems one potential solution to providing this necessary care,” Migliaccio said.
With the right treatment, studies have shown not only a reduction in relapse but that patients are getting back to a full and productive life.
“That’s what we’re really trying to move people towards, living a life that’s worthwhile for them,” Migliaccio said.
Among adults with opioid use disorder, some groups were found to be less likely to receive medications including black adults, women, those who were unemployed, and those in non-metropolitan areas.
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