Opiate substitution therapy

A pharmacy resolution for 2021: let’s improve the way patients with addiction are treated

There’s evidence that community pharmacy’s disrespect for people with addiction is deterring them from seeking the drug treatments designed to aid their recovery — putting them at risk of drug-related death.…

We must declare Scotland’s drug deaths a public health emergency

The number of drug-related deaths in Scotland has soared to the highest level in the EU. We know which strategies can tackle this crisis —  we should be using them.…

Drug rehab services face ‘serious pressure’ after 500% increase in buprenorphine price

Opioid dependence services are likely to face “serious financial pressures” in the long term after the price of one of the most common treatments they use soared for the second time in a year, public health chiefs have warned.…

Risk factors for mortality, hospitalisation and imprisonment in substance misuse patients

Pharmacists should be aware of the mortality rates and adverse outcomes, including hospitalisation and imprisonment, that are rife in illicit drug users and patients on opioid substitution therapy, in order to optimise patient safety and reduce adverse outcomes.…

We are concerned about the shortage of buprenorphine tablets

Buprenorphine is one of the two medicines licensed for opioid misuse that is recommended by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, and the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) ‘Orange Book’. The cost of generic buprenorphine sublingual tablets has risen shar…

Clinical management of drug misuse and dependence: an update

July 2017 saw publication of the fourth edition of ‘Drug misuse and dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management’, also known as the Orange Book, which provides guidance that supports healthcare professionals in the field of dependence on illicit and licit medicines. Pharmacists and …

Methadone and buprenorphine to be used to tackle US opioid crisis

The US Food and Drug Administration plans to encourage greater use of what it regards as less harmful opioid drugs, such as methadone and buprenorphine, to manage addiction to prescription opioids in a radical shift in policy.…

Scrap the opioid substitution service

I am a locum pharmacist who has worked in pharmacies in various regions of England. In many of the pharmacies I work in, I dispense methadone or buprenorphine to substance misusers and also provide clean needle packs as requested. It is disturbing for me to see drug misusers collect their methadone …

Community pharmacy helps diagnose people with hepatitis C infection, study shows

Community pharmacists have the potential to identify people with undiagnosed hepatitis C infection, according to research published in Clinical Pharmacist.…

Buprenorphine implant helps opioid-dependent patients stay abstinent longer

Further trials are required after buprenorphine implant showed success in opioid-dependent patients with stable abstinence.…