Buprenorphine

Medscape Medical News: For Prescription Opioid Dependence, Relapses Associated With Shorter Treatment Course

May 24, 2010 (New Orleans, Louisiana)—In persons dependent on prescription opioids, tapering with buprenorphine during a 9-month period, whether initially or after a period of substantial improvement, led to nearly universal relapse in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network Prescription Opioid Addiction Treatment Study.

This article describes research presented at the American Psychiatric Association 2010 Annual Meeting. Use this link to view the article. Note: In order to access this article you will need to sign up for a FREE MedScape account, if you do not have one already.

DGDispatch: Buprenorphine Favoured Over Methadone for Opiate Addiction in Pregnancy: Presented at ACOG

May 19, 2010 (San Francisco, California)— A recent study in Maine among women addicted to opiates has found that buprenorphine is safer for neonates than traditional treatment with methadone.

This article describes research findings from a paper given at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' (ACOG) Annual Clinical Meeting. Use this link to view the article.

JAMA: Extended vs Short-term Buprenorphine-Naloxone for Treatment of Opioid-Addicted Youth

Nov. 5, 2008—This clinical trial evaluates the efficacy of continuing Buprenorphine-Naloxone for 12 weeks versus detoxification for opioid-addicted youth. The number of patients younger than 18 years was too small to analyze separately, but overall, patients in the detox group had higher proportions of opioid-positive urine test results at weeks 4 and 8 but not at week 12.

Use this link to view the article.