Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: Where Do We Go From Here?

In the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy’s (NABP) Innovations publication, health policy and government relations director Megan Herber and manager Nisha Quasba discuss Congress’s interest in expanding access to medication for opioid use disorder in a time where the number of drug overdose deaths in the country has doubled in the past two years.

Herber and Quasba provide an overview of the opioid epidemic and explain that one of the most effective, long-term forms of therapy for opioid use disorder is medication treatment, including Food and Drug Administration-approved medications in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies.

The authors examine 1) an extra layer of federal bureaucracy for addiction treatment, 2) limits on access to telehealth and 3) the opioid public health emergency.