Leveraging COVID-19 to sustain regulatory flexibility in the treatment of opioid use disorder.
J Subst Abuse Treat
; 123: 108263, 2021 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-988546
ABSTRACT
The U.S. government declared the opioid epidemic as a national public health emergency in 2017, but regulatory frameworks that govern the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) through pharmaceutical interventions have remained inflexible. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has effectively removed regulatory restrictions that experts in the field of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) have been proposing for decades and has expanded access to care. The regulatory flexibilities implemented to avoid unnecessary COVID-related death must be made permanent to ensure that improved access to evidence-based treatment remains available to vulnerable individuals with OUD who otherwise face formidable barriers to MOUD. We must seize this moment of COVOD-19 regulatory flexibilities to demonstrate the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of delivering treatment for OUD through a low-threshold approach.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Opiate Substitution Treatment
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
Health Services Needs and Demand
/
Opioid-Related Disorders
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
J Subst Abuse Treat
Journal subject:
Substance-Related Disorders
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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