SAMHSA and ASAM Provide Support for Treatment with Buprenorphine

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced a cooperative agreement with the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), a specialty organization of addiction medicine physicians, to develop a mentoring program for internists, family medicine specialists, primary care physicians, pain specialists, psychiatrists and other non-addiction medicine physicians who are treating patients addicted to prescription narcotic pain medications or heroin with buprenorphine medications.

Using a three- year SAMHSA grant of $499,681 annually, ASAM will create a physician clinical support system that will provide a national network of 50 trained physician mentors with expertise in treating addiction to opioids (narcotic pain medications and heroin) with buprenorphine. The mentors will represent the medical specialty training societies permitted by law to provide required training to physicians on use of buprenorphine.

The Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA) allows the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, American Osteopathic Association the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry to provide the eight hours of training required for other physicians. DATA allows trained physicians in office -based settings to treat patients addicted to opioids with buprenorphine medications.

"This new program will assist physicians in developing the skills and confidence they need to treat patients addicted to heroin or prescription narcotic pain medications," SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie, explained.
"SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that almost five percent of those ages 12 and over used narcotic pain medications for non medical purposes in the past year. Many users of these opioids will need to be treated for dependence or addiction. SAMHSA's goal is to have 6,000 trained and approved physicians actively treating patients by the end of 2006."

Under the provisions of DATA, SAMHSA has assisted in the training of over 5,000 physicians in the use of buprenorphine. Currently 3,305 are approved to prescribe these medications. Traditional opioid treatment facilities are also permitted to dispense buprenorphine.

Source: www.jointogether.org