What is the best way to treat an opioid crisis that killed more people in 2016 than the Vietnam and Iraq Wars combined? This is the question being asked by regulators, medical providers, and now the general public as it becomes harder by the day to find someone that has been untouched by the disease of addiction and dependency.
On Wednesday, October 25th, 2017 the FDA Commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, told a U.S. House committee that they are looking into ways to widen the use of ‘medication-assisted therapy’ (MAT) alongside counseling to combat addiction to opioids; an approach that still carries a stigma for many who don’t understand the latest evidence as it relates to the treatment of substance use disorders.
At Pathway Healthcare, a core part of our mission is to provide stigma free care. We are utilizing a combination of behavioral counseling and medication assisted therapy (MAT Plus™) to provide our patients a pathway to recovery.
Our MAT Plus™ is a proprietary, evidence based, treatment approach that is designed to treat addiction and dependency in a manner consistent with other chronic diseases. The stigma surrounding medication assisted treatment is counterproductive to giving people the help they need to improve their life function. It is always encouraging to see articles like the one listed below from Bloomberg.com address the need to destigmatize medication assisted treatment and make real steps to address the opioid epidemic.
To learn more please read, FDA Aims to Destigmatize Drugs as Treatment for Opioid Addiction
