TY - JOUR
KW - Big Data
KW - Buprenorphine/therapeutic use
KW - COVID-19/therapy
KW - Drug Overdose/drug therapy
KW - Health Policy/legislation & jurisprudence/trends
KW - Humans
KW - Methadone/therapeutic use
KW - Narcotic Antagonists/therapeutic use
KW - Narcotics/therapeutic use
KW - Opiate Substitution Treatment
KW - Opioid-Related Disorders/drug therapy
KW - Pandemics
KW - United States
KW - COVID-19
KW - MOUD
KW - OUD
KW - opioid use disorder
KW - policy
AU - N. A. Livingston
AU - V. Ameral
AU - A. N. Banducci
AU - R. B. Weisberg
A1 - 
AB - The COVID-19 pandemic struck in the midst of an ongoing opioid epidemic. To offset disruption to life-saving treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), several federal agencies granted exemptions to existing federal regulations. This included loosening restrictions on medications for OUD (MOUD), including methadone and buprenorphine. In this commentary, we briefly review policy and practice guidelines for treating OUD prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We then outline specific MOUD treatment policy and practice exemptions that went into effect in February and March 2020, and discuss the ways in which these unprecedented changes have dramatically changed MOUD treatment. Given the unprecedented nature of these changes, and unknown outcomes to date, we advocate for a data-driven approach to guide future policy and practice recommendations regarding MOUD. We outline several critical clinical, research, and policy questions that can inform MOUD treatment in a post-COVID-19 era.
AD - National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Sciences Division, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, United States of America; U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, United States of America; Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States of America. Electronic address: nicholas.livingston@va.gov.; Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA, United States of America.; U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, United States of America; Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States of America; National Center for PTSD, Women's Health Sciences Division, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, United States of America.; U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, United States of America; Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States of America; Department of Family Medicine, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America.
BT - Journal of substance abuse treatment
C5 - Healthcare Policy; Opioids & Substance Use
DO - 10.1016/j.jsat.2020.108222
JF - Journal of substance abuse treatment
LA - eng
M1 - Journal Article
N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic struck in the midst of an ongoing opioid epidemic. To offset disruption to life-saving treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), several federal agencies granted exemptions to existing federal regulations. This included loosening restrictions on medications for OUD (MOUD), including methadone and buprenorphine. In this commentary, we briefly review policy and practice guidelines for treating OUD prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We then outline specific MOUD treatment policy and practice exemptions that went into effect in February and March 2020, and discuss the ways in which these unprecedented changes have dramatically changed MOUD treatment. Given the unprecedented nature of these changes, and unknown outcomes to date, we advocate for a data-driven approach to guide future policy and practice recommendations regarding MOUD. We outline several critical clinical, research, and policy questions that can inform MOUD treatment in a post-COVID-19 era.
PY - 2021
SN - 1873-6483; 0740-5472; 0740-5472
SP - 108222
T1 - Unprecedented need and recommendations for harnessing data to guide future policy and practice for opioid use disorder treatment following COVID-19
T2 - Journal of substance abuse treatment
TI - Unprecedented need and recommendations for harnessing data to guide future policy and practice for opioid use disorder treatment following COVID-19
U1 - Healthcare Policy; Opioids & Substance Use
U2 - 33303255
U3 - 10.1016/j.jsat.2020.108222
VL - 122
VO - 1873-6483; 0740-5472; 0740-5472
Y1 - 2021
Y2 - Mar
ER -