{"id":26440,"date":"2021-02-04T16:15:56","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T16:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=9f776239009006741ec2020caa0f8690"},"modified":"2021-02-04T16:15:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T16:15:56","slug":"the-biden-administration-withdrew-a-critical-response-to-the-opioid-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/02\/04\/the-biden-administration-withdrew-a-critical-response-to-the-opioid-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"The Biden Administration Withdrew a Critical Response to the Opioid Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Susan<\/a>

On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden pledged to tackle the opioid crisis and remove federal restrictions on buprenorphine, a lifesaving treatment for opioid addiction. So far, the Biden administration has surprised doctors and addiction experts by moving in the opposite direction. <\/p>\n

The Biden administration recently blocked an effort to expand access to buprenorphine, a drug the Biden campaign correctly<\/a> called a \u201cgold standard\u201d<\/a> for treating opioid addiction. Major medical<\/a> associations<\/a> and public health advocates<\/a> who had applauded<\/a> the effort, which came in the final days of the Trump administration, were left disappointed<\/a> by Biden.<\/p>\n

Fatal drug overdoses soared<\/a> under President Trump and are now alarmingly high<\/a>. The Trump administration was roundly criticized for blocking innovative efforts<\/a> to prevent overdose and prioritizing the war on drugs<\/a> over public health, and the reasoning behind the decisions made by both administrations remains murky. Both moves point to a growing conflict between policymakers, bureaucrats and law enforcement over prescription opioids that is blockading efforts to expand addiction treatment and, as emerging research<\/a> suggests, may be contributing to a spike in fatal drug overdoses. <\/p>\n

On January 7, Elinore McCance-Katz, the assistant secretary for mental health and substance abuse under President Trump, joined dozens of other officials in resigning after Trump motivated a violent mob to attack the Capitol. Reporting<\/a> by The Washington Post <\/em>suggests that McCance-Katz\u2019s colleagues at the Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) saw an opportunity in her early resignation and moved quickly to remove a major barrier to buprenorphine treatment during Trump\u2019s last days in office.<\/p>\n

McCance-Katz, who came under fire last year for echoing<\/a> Trump\u2019s talking points on COVID, resisted calls to suspend outdated rules<\/a> requiring doctors to take a training course and apply for a special \u201cX waiver\u201d to prescribe buprenorphine. The X waiver rules, which limit the number of patients a doctor can treat with buprenorphine, are widely blamed for creating a nationwide shortage of doctors who are both willing and legally able to prescribe the drug. Methadone, another \u201cgold standard\u201d addiction treatment, is subject to even stricter regulation.<\/p>\n

Barriers to a Life-Saving Treatment<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Like methadone, buprenorphine is an opioid that treats addiction by relieving painful withdrawal symptoms. The opioid antidote drug naloxone is included in leading buprenorphine formulas such as Suboxone, which does not cause the same euphoric effect as other opioids and is designed to prevent overdose. Still, buprenorphine is highly regulated compared to prescription painkillers. Along with law enforcement interventions<\/a> that have a chilling effect on doctors<\/a> and pharmacists,<\/a> experts say<\/a> the X waiver reinforces stigma that discourages doctors from becoming prescribers.<\/p>\n