New Role for Physicians
It has been illegal for physicians in the U.S. to prescribe opioid agonists to addicted persons except within the confines of federally regulated treatment programs. Recent efforts are serving to overcome this barrier and move opioid addiction treatment more into the mainstream of medical practice.
Office-based treatment for opioid dependence is being developed to address several needs in accordance with public health objectives:
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Increase access to treatment
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Offer treatment to patients outside the traditional methadone clinic system
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Mainstream the treatment of opioid dependence by coordinating it with treatment of other medical conditions.
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