As the American opioid crisis stretches into another year, there is little hope for those who look for solutions. At the moment, the crisis has become a sub-story and has fallen to the wayside, despite being one of the major medical problems in modern America. Another issue is that studies have recently shown that many positive treatment options are very much under-utilized.

This was shown recently with treatment programs like buprenorphine and methadone. Both are recognized forms of treatment for opioid addiction, and previously played a leading role in helping people to recover from opioid overdose. However, the study from the Annals of Internal Medicine painted a much worse, far bleaker image for the industry. Tracking around 18,000 adults in the Massachusetts area who had went into emergency room care for non-fatal drug overdoses from 2012-2014.

In that time, they found that less than a third – just 30% – were provided with any Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medication for addiction. By combining behavioral therapy with the use of approved drugs like Suboxone and Vivitrol, treatment can help addicts return from the brink. Such under-use, though, shames the industry.

A critical issue

Speaking about the problem was lead author of the study, Dr. Marc Larochelle. Larochelle said: “We were shocked by the fact that so few people are getting medication,”

Despite their findings showing that around 5% of those on the list died within a year of their overdose, they also found that around 2% of those were directly related to opioids. Indeed, it was also found that those who used methadone seen their mortality rate drop down to around 2.5%, and around 3% for those taking buprenorphine. This means that mortality reductions were at levels of 60% and 40%, respectively.

Another common drug used, naltrexone, was far less prevalent and produced far less effective results. Part of the reason why that is so ineffective, though, is that opiates cannot be taken for 7-10 days before it can be used: the other two drugs are far less severe in the waiting ties needed.

Getting patients to start using naltrexone is hard, and it may play a role in why many people stop after just one month, compared with 4/5 months for other treatment options. The sheer lack of options, forcing people to go with one option other the other due to a lack of choice, is seen as part of the problem. another major part of the issue is that the opioid overdose pandemic shows no signs of slowing down, with nearly 50,000 deaths related to overdoses in 2017 alone.

There’s not enough being done to reach those in need, most studies found. The aim is to try and make a new kind of policy platform: one that helps to reach more people and target them in a positive and helpful manner.

The more that can be done to help make sure there is more choice and opportunity, the sooner a long-term solution could be formulated to end this.