LAW WOULD EASE PATIENTS' ACCESS TO PAIN MEDICATION

People who are dependent on prescription pain pills and other drugs
may have easier access to a more discreet and convenient medical
treatment for addiction, thanks to a change in federal law.

About 1.5 million people in the United States are dependent on pain
pills, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA). Almost 12 million others have used strong
pain drugs like Vicodin, Oxycontin, and codeine without having any
medical reason.

Contrary to widespread belief, medication-assisted treatment does not
mean lining up every day at a public drug treatment clinic for a dose
of methadone or spending time away from work, school, and home at an
inpatient clinic.

Since 2002, doctors have been able to write prescriptions from their
offices for another drug, Suboxone (buprenorphine). Suboxone prevents
withdrawal symptoms from painkillers and other drugs called "opioids"
because they work like opium in the body. It enables people to stop
taking the drug to which they are addicted - and often obtaining illegally.

Many are individuals who might otherwise go untreated because of the
stigma attached to methadone clinics, the inconvenience of traveling
back and forth every day, or living in areas where clinics are too far away.

Suboxone may have other benefits, in addition to making treatment
more easily available to a whole new population of patients.

Addiction experts say, or instance, that office-based treatment may
encourage patients to seek help earlier in their drug dependence,
when the chances for successful treatment are better.

Early treatment also may help patients avoid serious job, family, and
legal problems that often are part of long-term drug dependence.

The federal government, however, was concerned about overuse of the
drug, which is a narcotic, and put a 30-patient limit on the number
of people that a doctor could treat. The limit applied to medical
groups and hospitals. A 100-doctor clinic, for instance, could still
prescribe Suboxone for 30 patients.

A new law, which went into effect a few weeks ago, allows each
individual doctor in a group or hospital to prescribe the drug for 30
patients. SAMHSA said it should make treatment more widely available.

People who need treatment, however, may still have a tough time
finding a physician who prescribes Suboxone.

Doctors must get clearance from SAMHSA to treat opioid-addicted
patients and prescribe Suboxone, and some must take eight hours of
training. There are other barriers, as well. Some physicians, for
instance, are concerned about having drug-dependent people in their
waiting rooms, or dealing with government paperwork.

Only about 6,000 doctors have gone through the process so far, and
not all are prescribing the drug.

SAMHSA maintains an online data base (http:
//buprenorphine.samhsa.gov/bwns_locator/index.html) to help patients
around the country find a doctor who prescribes Suboxone. It lists
only about 3,500 prescribers. As a result, people in huge areas of
the country have no access to this easier way to start beating addiction.

Note: Michael Woods is the Blade's science editor. His health columns
appear each Monday and his columns on computers and technology appear
each Saturday.