Fighting Drugs with Drugs: ERs Tackle Opioid Overdose with Medication-Assisted Treatment

Los Angeles, California -

Physicians, counselors, and agencies in Wisconsin are now considering anti-addiction medications as a first response in emergency rooms. This is a more drastic approach wherein clinicians working in the ER are providing life-saving care to patients suffering from opioid overdoses. The goal is to expand on medication-assisted treatment, also known as MAT.

According to Wisconsin’s chapter of American College of Emergency Physicians, more emergency clinicians want to make use of these programs in order to save more lives, especially now that an opioid epidemic is sweeping the country.

Bobby Redwood, an emergency and preventive medicine physician says: “It weighs on you driving home after a night shift and someone didn’t make it, knowing society could have intervened and helped.”

Medication-assisted treatment has repeatedly proven to be an effective method for treating substance abuse disorders successfully. Most drug rehab facilities use it and offer different types of MATs to suit different conditions.

MAT programs combine psychosocial therapy with anti-craving medications such as buprenorphine or methadone. Supportive counseling and behavioral therapy tackles the root cause of addictive behavior, while the medications limit cravings and allow for safer detoxification.

Buprenorphine is a narcotic that is also referred to as suboxone. Many people wonder why a narcotic would be used to treat narcotic addiction, but it actually makes a lot of sense once one considers how these drugs work.

Opiates and opioids affect certain receptors in the body, blocking pain signals and producing euphoric sensations. That is what makes them so addictive in the first place. But drugs like buprenorphine can occupy those same receptors, reducing cravings while also producing less euphoria.

These medications can diminish withdrawal symptoms for patients in detox. Withdrawal is an otherwise uncomfortable and challenging experience. In fact, withdrawal can even become life-threatening for those who have been addictive for a long time. This is why it is important to monitor the condition of drug dependent patients, especially while they are trying to get sober.

“A lot of the work we’re doing is figuring out: What a community needs to become buprenorphine ready and medication-assisted treatment ready,” Redwood said.

The Problem is that the Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths are Still Increasing. More people died of drug overdoses in 2017 than ever before. It is a staggering 10 percent increase in deaths nationwide compared to 2016. A significant portion of those deaths occurred in mid-Atlantic states and Midwestern ones like Wisconsin.

Wisconsin saw a 35 percent increase in fatal opioid overdoses between 2015 and 2016. Between 2016 and 2017, emergency department visits for overdoses were the highest in the nation, with an astounding 109 percent increase. This is according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And while the opioid overdose problem has been around for quite a while, the solutions still aren’t as solid as they should be. There are plenty of obstacles for those who want to seek out treatment. There are financial hurdles to deal with, especially if health insurance doesn’t cover the expensive costs of treatment.

There is also the social stigma associated with addiction which discourages people from seeking help in the first place. On a wider scale, addiction isn’t widely considered a medical condition—and this prevents treatment programs from being improved upon.

Those who are struggling with opioid addiction can find it difficult to try and reach out to outpatient programs that provide medication-assisted treatment, or even just a clinician who can prescribe buprenorphine. Contact Rehab Near Me to start your rehab journey.

But with these changes within emergency rooms, it’s easy to see that progress is being made here and there. If someone in the family is struggling with opioid addiction and the effects of drug abuse, look for an addiction treatment center nearby and learn more about the recovery process.