Going to the MAT to Fight Opioid Crisis.

• Author: Enlund, Sydne
• Position: TRENDS - Medication-assisted treatment - Brief article

As addiction and overdose deaths continue to touch all communities, expanding access to drugs that help treat opioid addiction is the latest strategy states are using to combat this lethal and costly crisis.

Every day, about 142 Americans die of a drug overdose, and two-thirds of those deaths involve prescription opioids and illicit drugs. Especially hard hit are rural areas, where drug overdose rates recently outpaced those in urban areas. Many rural areas have a shortage of health care practitioners who can provide treatment and recovery services for addiction. Historically, physicians, who are more likely to practice in urban areas, were the only providers who could prescribe medication-assisted treatment, known as MAT, for opioid addiction. These medications, such as methadone and buprenorphine, treat opioid dependence and addiction by diminishing withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

The federal Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 extends buprenorphine prescribing privileges to nurse practitioners and physician assistants practicing in an office setting after obtaining a...