Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Do Help Patients

Much of the focus on the current opioid crisis remains on how we arrived here and who is to blame. Despite having effective treatments for the management of patients with opioid use disorder (OUD), rates of overdose deaths continue to increase. As such, the focus needs to shift to increasing access to medications for OUD and better incorporation of harm reduction strategies to decrease not just the mortality but also the morbidity associated with OUD and other substance use disorders. Unfortunately, significant barriers rooted in misunderstanding and bias still limit access and prevent patients with OUD from seeking and staying in treatment. Until these are overcome and medical practice changes, both physicians and patients will continue to struggle to overcome this problem.