New map shows how well your state is fighting the opioid epidemic with medication-assisted therapy - Entrepreneur Generations

"There’s a simple way to understand how the opioid epidemic got so bad in America: In the US, it is much easier to get high than it is to get help for addiction," German Lopez reports for Vox. This is more true in some states than others, as illustrated by this map by health research firm Avalere Health, which shows the ratio of certified buprenorphine providers to opioid overdose deaths.

Avalere Health map; click on the image to enlarge it.

Medication-assisted therapy is widely acknowledged to be the most effective form of treatment for opioid addiction, and buprenorphine is one of three different medications currently on the market. Lopez reasons that a state that has a low number of MAT providers and a high number of overdose deaths is not fully addressing its opioid crisis. States that fall into that category include West Virginia, Ohio and New Hampshire.

The Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday that it will loosen restrictions on MAT by allowing pharmaceutical companies to sell medications that curb cravings without fully stopping addiction, Sheila Kaplan reports for The New York Times.

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2GMSlPr New map shows how well your state is fighting the opioid epidemic with medication-assisted therapy - Entrepreneur Generations

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