In May of 2016, the FDA announced an exciting new technology to fight opioid addiction. It sounds like science fiction, but doctors have developed an implant to deliver low-level measured doses of a drug used to wean a person off dependence on opioids.
Who It’s For
This implant is called Probuphine. It is used in patients who, according to the FDA, “are already stable on low-to-moderate doses of other forms of buprenorphine.” Because it’s an implant, the drug can be delivered into a recovering person’s body in a much more consistent way. Being in the body, the recovering patient cannot forget to take it.
Another interesting effect, again from the FDA is that “it also decreases the pleasurable effects of other opioids, making continued opioid abuse less attractive.” One of the biggest problems people in rehab face is that their dependencies change and when they go off a drug they are extremely vulnerable to overdose. This implant offers seriously good news: “According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, patients receiving MAT for their opioid use disorder cut their risk of death from all causes in half.”
The exciting part about this implant is that it’s not just a jab and forget procedure. It’s part of a comprehensive program called medication-assisted treatment (MAT) which combines approved medication with counselling and behavioral therapy. There is no magic pill for recovery, and hard work is necessary, but this device may allow for a recovering individual to focus on their will to get better rather than the urges of dependency they will feel during withdrawal.
New Options
Probuphine offers a great new option for treating people facing opioid addiction. Because it is part of the larger MAT program, it can help with both the withdrawal and building a new lifestyle constructed to prevent relapse.
If you would like to know more about this exciting new implant for drug addiction please send us a message or call us today at (833) 596-3502.