After decades of strict rules requiring daily doses at special clinics, US methadone regulations are changing. The new rules allow stable patients to take home 28 days’ worth of methadone starting next month, a shift driven by pandemic-era changes and evidence that unsupervised treatment is safe and effective.
The first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month, but experts say theFor decades, strict rules required most methadone patients to line up at special clinics every morning to sip their daily dose of the liquid medicine while being watched. The rules, built on distrust of people in the grip of opioid addiction , were meant to prevent overdoses and diversion — the illicit selling or sharing of methadone.
The new federal rules allow stable patients to take home 28 days’ worth of methadone. Colorado, New York and Massachusetts are among states taking steps to update their rules to align with the new flexibility. Some others have not, including West Virginia and Tennessee — the states with the nation’s highest drug overdose death rates.
“This is the only medication where you have to disrupt your life by going someplace every day,” she said. In Arizona, clinics now get $15 per in-person dose from the state's Medicaid program vs. about $4 per take-home dose. The state is considering options including making those amounts equal or adopting what’s called “bundled payment,” a model that reflects the overall cost of treatment.
Methadone Opioid Addiction Drug Regulations Overdose Prevention Access To Treatment
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US will let more people take methadone at homeThe first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month. But experts say the changes could fall flat if states and methadone clinics fail to act. The new federal rules allow stable patients to take home a month's worth of methadone if states allow it.
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US will let more people take methadone at homeThe first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month.
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US will let more people take methadone at homeThe first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month.
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US will let more people take methadone at homeThe treatment can start faster because patients will no longer need to demonstrate a one-year history of opioid addiction.
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US will let more people take methadone at homeThe treatment can start faster because patients will no longer need to demonstrate a one-year history of opioid addiction.
Read more »
US will let more people take methadone at homeThe treatment can start faster because patients will no longer need to demonstrate a one-year history of opioid addiction.
Read more »