New Tx Okayed for Opioid Addiction

[nygirl7]

For someone like me who has been on suboxone for the last six or seven years.......this is an amazing news article.

Maybe I won't have to continue paying a shrink hundreds of dollars a month to prescribe the bupe for me and could actually get it from a PCP with my insurance. Boy that would be awesome I hope this helps somebody else out whose been drug free for many years but not 'really' drug free after all.

It does caution liver damage as a potential but for anybody still out on drugs - I would gather its the safer choice over OD and HIV and HepC etc etc etc.


New Tx Okayed for Opioid Addiction
By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: October 13, 2010
  


The FDA has added opioid dependence as an indication for long-acting naltrexone (Vivitrol), a once-monthly injectable.

The drug, already approved to treat alcohol dependence, joins the short list of pharmacologic treatments for opioid addiction, including methadone and buprenorphine.

"We are always happy to have another addition to our arsenal of addiction treatment," said Petros Levounis, MD, of St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals in Manhattan.

"Addiction is a serious problem in this country and can have devastating effects on individuals who are drug-dependent and on their family members and society," Janet Woodcock, MD, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. "This drug approval represents a significant advancement in addiction treatment."

Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist, blocking any of the feelings patients expect when they take heroin, morphine and other opioids.

That action differs from those seen with methadone, an opioid agonist used as replacement therapy, and buprenorphine, a partial agonist that blocks most opioid receptors while giving the patient just a taste of opioid effects. (See Barriers Remain for Primary Care Treatment of Addicts)

Vivitrol, like short-acting naltrexone and buprenorphine, can be prescribed by a primary care physician.

Earlier data reported at the American Psychological Association meeting last May found that 90% of patients on extended-release naltrexone had opioid-free urine screens over a six-month period, compared with 35% of those on a placebo injection. (See Monthly Shot Cuts Opioid Use)

The FDA said it relied on data from other studies, which found that 36% of patients stayed on treatment for six months, compared with 23% of placebo patients.

The agency said serious side effects include injection site reaction that requires surgical intervention and liver damage.

Other side effects could include depression, suicide, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, although the treatment will not include any boxed warnings.

According to drugmaker Alkermes, about 10,000 patients a year currently use extended-release naltrexone to treat alcohol dependence, a treatment strategy approved in April 2006.

The drug has not had widespread uptake for that indication for a number of reasons, the company said. Many physicians are wary of treating patients with abuse disorders, and patients more often reach out for psychosocial counseling such as 12-step programs to beat their habits.

Researchers say these factors explain the slow uptake of many of the other pharmacological treatments for addiction.

Last month, an FDA advisory committee voted 12-1 to approve Vivitrol to treat opioid abuse.

[kunkielove]

Are you currently receiving tmt for hep c?  Just wondering if you could be on suboxone and receive tmt.  I went for my bloodwork yesterday to see if I'm a candidate for hep c treatment.  This is proving to be a lengthy process, getting referred to a specialist.  I was also on suboxone for about 6 months, then had to be hopsitalized and they would not give it to me inthe hospital,, on 4 mg a day (supposed to be 8 but I couldn't tolerate taht dose, made me too sick to my stomach)....I was sick, very sick for a few days and just a fyi:: my dr. put me on seroquel...took the withdrawl symptoms away to the point where i was very comfortable, when i got out 3 weeks later I was completely free of the suboxone, which kinda scared me (being on them) as I had done alot of research on the drug and knew that I would have to be tapered off very slowly, as with methadone, to avoid withdrawl.  I was in a psych ward, put there by my S.O. as I was under severe stress and couldn't sleep for at least 3 weeks none at all.  Proved to be a great blessing, at first in disguise.

With respect to this new drug, I did hear about it a few times on tv this week.  Is it, that you know of, a narcotic....does it stop the withdrawl syndrome as I can't seem to get off of my 4 darvocet which make me very sick more times than not and I think it's due to the large amts of tylenol and hep c.  I was thinking of asking my pain mgmt dr. for it.  I'd rather take alleve which maybe just as effective in relieving my pain.  Never asked him for anything "good",  just actually trying to get off a many months long suboxone habit that I re-developed (purchasing them)...as they used to give me a litle high...don't like the possible side effects of the new drug though...as i already suffer from depression.  

[stalion]

Thanks for the information, this may be helpful to my son who is out on parole for drug possesion and sale, also a Heroin addict, he talks about being dope sick, they offered suboxone, when he got out of prison, but sometimes I think he needs something ,to stay away from his old lifestyle! thanks