CSAT: Federal BOP facilities must provide methadone

Abstract

“All three medications” to treat opioid use disorder must be available in federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities, said Yngvild Olsen, M.D. at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit last month in Atlanta. Olsen, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), noted that the three medications include methadone (“the most heavily regulated,”), buprenorphine (now easier to prescribe because of the elimination of the X‐waiver), and naltrexone (“especially injectable naltrexone,” or Vivitrol). “All three have been heavily studied,” Olsen told the audience, adding that she was “not necessarily comparing one against another,” but that the key is to provide access to all three.