PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Effective medications for opioid use disorder rarely used

Effective medications for opioid use disorder rarely used
2023-08-07
(Press-News.org) Most individuals diagnosed with opioid use disorder are not on recommended medications and even fewer remain in care, according to a research letter published today in JAMA Internal Medicine by lead author Ashley Leech, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC).

 

In 2021, there were more than 100,000 overdose deaths in the United States, with the highest rates among those ages 25-54. 

 

Just 22% of the 40,000 individuals with opioid use disorder studied by VUMC researchers continuously used buprenorphine for a full year. And among those who discontinued, many were on the medication for just over a month, which is markedly below recommended levels, the authors said.

 

“Treatment with medications like buprenorphine is safe and highly effective, reducing risk of countless adverse outcomes including overdose death,” said senior author Stephen Patrick, MD, MPH, director Center for Child Health Policy at VUMC. “Nationwide, far too few people with opioid use disorder receive any form of pharmacotherapy and even fewer remain in care.”

 

Out-of-pocket costs for medication are one factor, according to Leech.

 

The study’s findings suggest that the higher the cost of a patient’s initial buprenorphine fill, the higher the likelihood of discontinuing the medication even though the study showed that out-of-pocket costs for buprenorphine decreased over time.

 

Those facing the highest daily costs ($4.28-$25) had a 34% higher risk of discontinuing their treatment compared to those in the lowest cost quartile ($0-$0.71), though some patients had an even higher out-of-pocket cost of up to $98. 

 

“Cost is a barrier to use,” Leech said. “If buprenorphine was added to a federal list of clinically approved, preventive services like the Affordable Care Act’s preventive drug list, which mandates private insurance plans to cover recommended preventive services without patient cost-sharing, patients wouldn’t have to pay for it.”

“If adding buprenorphine to that list were to happen, it could be a huge opportunity to alleviate the lasting effects of the ongoing opioid crisis, including the billions of dollars per year spent on overdose-related hospital costs and other health care expenditures,” she said.  

 

VUMC researchers now plan to do further studies among the most vulnerable patient groups to identify strategies to not only ensure people access treatment but also stay in treatment over time. 

 

 

 

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Effective medications for opioid use disorder rarely used

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Discovery in nanomachines within living organisms - cytochromes P450 (CYP450s) unleashed as living soft robots

Discovery in nanomachines within living organisms - cytochromes P450 (CYP450s) unleashed as living soft robots
2023-08-07
[Jerusalem, Israel] Study reveals an important discovery in the realm of nanomachines within living systems. Prof. Sason Shaik from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Dr. Kshatresh Dutta Dubey from Shiv Nadar University, conducted molecular-dynamics simulations of Cytochromes P450 (CYP450s) enzymes, revealing that these enzymes exhibit unique soft-robotic properties. Cytochromes P450 (CYP450s) are enzymes found in living organisms and play a crucial role in various biological processes, particularly in the metabolism of drugs and xenobiotics. The researchers' simulations demonstrated that CYP450s possess a fourth dimension - the ability to sense and respond to ...

Scientists crack the code of what causes diamonds to erupt

Scientists crack the code of what causes diamonds to erupt
2023-08-07
An international team of scientists led by the University of Southampton has discovered that the breakup of tectonic plates is the main driving force behind the generation and eruption of diamond-rich magmas from deep inside the Earth. Their findings could shape the future of the diamond exploration industry, informing where diamonds are most likely to be found. Diamonds, which form under great pressures at depth, are hundreds of millions, or even billions, of years old. They are typically found in a type of volcanic rock known as kimberlite. Kimberlites are found in the oldest, thickest, ...

A fungus gets comfortable

A fungus gets comfortable
2023-08-07
Aspergillus fumigatus strains that infect humans have a significantly altered metabolism compared to other strains in the environment. At the same time, infection with the fungus leads to an apparent change in the human lung microbiome. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) in Jena, Germany, came to this conclusion after using machine learning models to analyze genome data from about 250 fungal strains and lung microbiome data from 40 patients. The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is widely distributed in the environment, where it performs important ecological functions. ...

CEHD researchers receive funding for project on quantum teaching & learning in elementary classrooms

2023-08-07
Nancy Holincheck, Assistant Professor, Advanced Studies in Teaching and Learning, School of Education; Jessica Rosenberg, Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy; Stephanie Dodman, Associate Professor, School of Education; and Benjamin Dreyfus, Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy, received funding from the National Science Foundation for the project: "EAGER: Quantum is Elementary: Quantum Teaching & Learning in Elementary Classrooms." The researchers will study learning associated with elementary teachers' engagement in professional learning and elementary students' learning related to quantum science, quantum thinking, and careers. The ...

More work needed to unlock mysteries of Asia’s bees

More work needed to unlock mysteries of Asia’s bees
2023-08-07
Although the collapse of hives of European honey bees (Apis mellifera) has gained worldwide attention in recent years, there are massive gaps in knowledge of other bee species, particularly in the Asian region, which contains over half the world’s human population and where food security (in which bees play a key role) remains a major challenge. According to a recent global analysis, only 1% of the global public data on bee distribution comes from Asia, even though 15% of the world’s bee species are thought to live there. In a new paper, “Opportunities and challenges in Asian bee research and conservation”, published in the journal ...

Symptoms of the body and the mind are frequent fellow travelers

2023-08-07
INDIANAPOLIS – Chronic pain is often accompanied by depression and anxiety. In an invited commentary published in JAMA Network Open, Kurt Kroenke, M.D., of Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine, discusses the relationship between pain, the most common symptom for which individuals visit a physician, and depression and anxiety, the two most prevalent mental health conditions worldwide. He highlights the importance of not neglecting psychological symptoms in patients experiencing pain. “One of the reasons for the bi-directional linkage between pain and depression, as well as anxiety, is the existence of a feedback ...

T. Boone Pickens Foundation donates $20 million to Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine

T. Boone Pickens Foundation donates $20 million to Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine
2023-08-07
The T. Boone Pickens Foundation, established by the late, Texan innovative energy leader and philanthropist, is donating $20 million to the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine. The gift, announced in 2013, is one of the largest research donations in Wilmer’s history. It will fund vision-saving research and a professorship. Pickens’ interest in the treatment and research of eye conditions developed in the 1980s after his father’s diagnosis of macular degeneration, a progressive condition that disrupts the central field of vision and causes ...

SwRI helps create open-source software to assist rail industry decarbonization efforts

SwRI helps create open-source software to assist rail industry decarbonization efforts
2023-08-07
SAN ANTONIO — August 7, 2023 —Southwest Research Institute is helping the freight rail industry assess potential pathways to decarbonization with a new open-source modeling and simulation software known as ALTRIOS. ALTRIOS, the Advanced Locomotive Technology and Rail Infrastructure Optimization System, can simulate the real-world impacts and expenses related to adopting alternative energy locomotive technologies and expanding associated infrastructure. Now publicly available for download, ALTRIOS supports several simulation modes to provide rail industry stakeholders with optimal strategies for implementing ...

A promising investigational therapeutic monoclonal antibody to treat chronic hepatitis B and D infections

2023-08-07
Affecting hundreds of millions of people, chronic hepatitis B is a widespread global health problem for which there is as yet no cure. In a preclinical study involving the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Heidelberg University Hospital, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the US company Vir Biotechnology, the potential of an engineered investigational human monoclonal antibody for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis D has been demonstrated. Based on the results, clinical trials with the monoclonal antibody VIR-3434 are ongoing. Chronic hepatitis B ...

Study: People expect others to mirror their own selfishness, generosity

Study: People expect others to mirror their own selfishness, generosity
2023-08-07
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — New research shows that a person’s own behavior is the primary driver of how they treat others during brief, zero-sum-game competitions. Generous people tend to reward generous behavior and selfish individuals often punish generosity and reward selfishness – even when it costs them personally. The study found that an individual’s own generous or selfish deeds carry more weight than the attitudes and behaviors of others. The findings are reported in the journal Cognitive Science. Previous research into this arena of human behavior suggested that social norms are the primary factor guiding a person’s decision-making in competitive scenarios, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

CMD-OPT model enables the discovery of a potent and selective RIPK2 inhibitor as preclinical candidate for the treatment of acute liver injury

Melatonin receptor 1a alleviates sleep fragmentation-aggravated testicular injury in T2DM by suppression of TAB1/TAK1 complex through FGFR1

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals Shen-Bai-Jie-Du decoction retards colorectal tumorigenesis by regulating the TMEM131–TNF signaling pathway-mediated differentiation of immunosuppressive dendritic ce

Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B Volume 15, Issue 7 Publishes

New research expands laser technology

Targeted radiation offers promise in patients with metastasized small cell lung cancer to the brain

A high clinically translatable strategy to anti-aging using hyaluronic acid and silk fibroin co-crosslinked hydrogels as dermal regenerative fillers

Mount Sinai researchers uncover differences in how males and females change their mind when reflecting on past mistakes

CTE and normal aging are difficult to distinguish, new study finds

Molecular arms race: How the genome defends itself against internal enemies

Tiny chip speeds up antibody mapping for faster vaccine design

KTU experts reveal why cultural heritage is important for community unity

More misfolded proteins than previously known may contribute to Alzheimer’s and dementia

“Too much going on”: Autistic adults overwhelmed by non-verbal social cues

What’s driving America’s deep freezes in a warming world?

A key role of brain protein in learning and memory is deciphered by scientists

Heart attacks don’t follow a Hollywood script

Erin M. Schuman wins 2026 Nakasone Award for discovery on neural synapse function and change during formation of memories

Global ocean analysis could replace costly in-situ sound speed profiles in seafloor positioning, study finds

Power in numbers: Small group professional coaching reduces rates of physician burnout by nearly 30%

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage: A comprehensive review of CCUS-EOR

New high-temperature stable dispersed particle gel for enhanced profile control in CCUS applications

State gun laws and firearm-related homicides and suicides

Use of tobacco and cannabis following state-level cannabis legalization

Long-term obesity and biological aging in young adults

Eindhoven University of Technology and JMIR Publications announce unlimited open access publishing agreement

Orphan nuclear receptors in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease development

A technological breakthrough for ultra-fast and greener AI

Pusan National University researchers identify key barriers hindering data-driven smart manufacturing adoption

Inking heterometallic nanosheets: A scalable breakthrough for coating, electronics, and electrocatalyst applications

[Press-News.org] Effective medications for opioid use disorder rarely used