AT Forum NEWS NOTES & UPDATES #136
November 2009
Compiled & Edited by Sue Emerson - Publisher
Prior Edition: October 2009
Contents
MEDICATION-ASSISTED TREATMENT
CSAT Rescinds 2008 "Dear Colleague" Letter on Methadone Take-Homes
Medication-Assisted Treatment Booklets for Patients, Families, and Friends
"In My Backyard: Dispelling Myths About Methadone" Video Now Available From ICAAT
Expand Vets' Access to Methadone, Other Addiction Treatment, Report Says
GOVERNMENT
HHS Secretary Sebelius Announces Senate Confirmation of Pamela Hyde as SAMHSA Administrator
2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Injection Drug Use and Related Risk Behaviors
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
SAMHSA Awards More Than $38.2 Million to Help Expand Adult Drug Treatment Courts
Treatment Referrals Most Likely to Come from Criminal Justice System
NEW RESOURCES
Columbia University Publishes Free HIV Handbook Online
MEDICATION-ASSISTED TREATMENT (MAT)
CSAT Rescinds 2008 "Dear Colleague" Letter on Methadone Take-Homes
Last month, H. Westley Clark, MD, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), rescinded the January 24, 2008, Dear Colleague letter on methadone take-home doses. The 2008 letter indicated opioid treatment programs (OTPs) would be required to be open seven days a week, or make alternative arrangements for patients who do not meet the eight criteria for take-home methadone doses. Dr. Clark’s guidance letter suggested that on closure days, "the OTP could have an arrangement with a medical facility (hospital) or another OTP in the community to permit the patient to be medicated under appropriate medical supervision. Or the OTP may decide to open for a limited period of time to dispense to patients not eligible for the take-home supply."
According to the October 21 letter, Dr. Clark indicated that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is "in the process of reviewing the guidance" provided in the January 24, 2008 letter. "Our goal for the review is to provide additional clarity on SAMHSA’s policy and to ensure safe and effective treatment services are available for people in need."
The October 21 "Dear Colleague" letter can be accessed at: http://www.compa-ny.org/csatreversal.pdf
For additional background information on the original 2008 "Dear Colleague see the Spring 2008 AT Forum newsletter available at: http://atforum.com/newsletters/2008spring.php#AATOD
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Medication-Assisted Treatment Booklets for Patients, Families, and Friends
In October, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) announced the availability of three consumer booklets on medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for current or potential patients, their families, and friends. The booklets are designed to provide basic information about MAT for opioid addiction including medication options for treatment - methadone, naltrexone, and buprenorphine. The booklets also explain how medication options fit into the overall recovery process.
One booklet is directed at families and friends of patients entering MAT. The other two booklets present facts about naltrexone and buprenorphine and are directed at patients entering MAT.
The Medication-Assisted Treatment booklet PDF is available at:
http://www.kap.samhsa.gov/products/brochures/pdfs/med_assisted_tx_facts.pdf
The Facts About Naltrexone booklet PDF is available at:
http://www.kap.samhsa.gov/products/brochures/pdfs/naltrexone_facts.pdf
The Facts About Buprenorphine booklet PDF is available at:
http://www.kap.samhsa.gov/products/brochures/pdfs/buprenorphine_facts.pdf
Source: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — October 22, 2009
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"In My Backyard: Dispelling Myths About Methadone" Video Now Available From ICAAT
The International Center for Advancement of Addiction Treatment (ICAAT) has produced a 15-minute video addressing the "not-in-my-backyard" (NIMBY) phenomenon - probably the greatest barrier to meaningful expansion of methadone treatment availability in America. Throughout the U.S., and in many other nations as well, efforts to open new facilities are met with fierce opposition based on fear of resultant crime and a general deterioration of the neighborhood.
This film highlights the patients, staff and services of a methadone maintenance treatment clinic operating since 1974 in a church building in the heart of residential and commercial Greenwich Village, NYC.
The video can be accessed at: http://www.icaatnimbyvideo.info/
To order a copy of the DVD contact Hindy Bernstein via e-mail at hbernstein@icaat.org
Source: The International Center for Advancement of Addiction Treatment, The Baron Edmond de Rothchild Chemical Dependency Institute — October 22, 2009
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Expand Vets' Access to Methadone, Other Addiction Treatment, Report Says
The U.S. military's Tricare program is coming under fire for not providing reimbursement for methadone maintenance and buprenorphine treatment -- two leading pharmacological interventions for opioid addiction.
The Navy Times reported Nov. 5 that a new report from the Drug Policy Alliance called on the federal government to expand veterans' access to addiction treatment, including medication-assisted therapy.
Tricare prohibits payments for "drug maintenance programs when one addictive drug is substituted for another on a maintenance basis [such as methadone substituted for heroin]" -- a policy called "outrageous" by Robert Newman of the Rothschild Chemical Dependency Institute.
The report said that addiction problems are strongly associated with incarceration of veterans; about 19 percent of returning Iraq and Afghan war vets have been treated by the Veterans' Administration for addictions.
Source: JoinTogether.org - November 11, 2009
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GOVERNMENT
HHS Secretary Sebelius Announces Senate Confirmation of Pamela Hyde as SAMHSA Administrator
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that the United States Senate unanimously confirmed Pamela Hyde as Administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) within HHS.
"Pamela Hyde has worked tirelessly on behalf of the people of New Mexico to expand access to health and human services programs and improve their quality," said Secretary Sebelius. "With over 30 years of experience in both the private and public sectors, Pamela’s health policy expertise and management experience will be invaluable to our Department. She will be an outstanding leader at SAMHSA, and I look forward to working with her in this new role."
Source: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - November 20, 2009
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2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Injection Drug Use and Related Risk Behaviors
Combined 2006 to 2008 data indicate that an annual average of 425,000 persons aged 12 or older (0.17 percent) used a needle to inject heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, or other stimulants during the past year
One eighth (13.0 percent) of past year injection drug users had used a needle that they knew or suspected someone else had used before them the last time they used a needle to inject drugs
Less than one third (29.0 percent) of past year injection drug users cleaned the needle with bleach prior to their last injection
More than one half (52.8 percent) of past year injection drug users purchased the last needle they used from a pharmacy, and 12.4 percent obtained the needle through a needle exchange program
HIV prevention and education programs targeted at out-of-treatment injection drug users have been in effect for nearly two decades. The findings from NSDUH, however, suggest that the need for such programs still remains. By identifying varying rates of injection drug use among demographic groups, they also help to delineate specific subpopulations for whom modifying current programs or developing new ones may prove to be most effective.
The 4-page PDF can be accessed at:
http://www.atforum.com/addiction-resources/documents/InjectingDrugUse.pdf
Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health — October 29, 2009
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
SAMHSA Awards More Than $38.2 Million to Help Expand Adult Drug Treatment Courts
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced the award of 44 new grants for $38.2 million over the next three years to expand the treatment capability of adult drug courts.
The grants will be used to expand and/or enhance substance abuse treatment services in "problem solving" courts, which use the treatment drug court model in order to provide alcohol and drug treatment, recovery support services supporting substance abuse treatment, screening, assessment, case management, and program coordination to adult defendants/offenders.
"Drug treatment courts made a tremendous difference in helping steer people on the path of recovery and giving them the support needed to help break free from substance abuse," said SAMHSA Acting Administrator Eric Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H. "These new grants will expand the successes of the more than 2,200 treatment drug courts operating in communities across the nation."
Source: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — October 2, 2009
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Treatment Referrals Most Likely to Come from Criminal Justice System
The criminal justice system accounts for more than one in three referrals to addiction treatment programs nationally, and such referrals are more likely to result in completed treatment stays, according to the latest Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
A total of 1.8 million Americans were admitted to treatment programs in 2007, according to the TEDS report, and of these 671,000 (37 percent) were referred by the criminal justice system. Researchers found that 22 percent of criminal justice referred patients dropped out of treatment, compared to 27 percent of overall treatment patients.
Source: JoinTogether.org — October 18, 2009
Publisher’s Note:
It should be noted according to a August 2009 TEDS special report, the majority of referrals from the criminal justice system are for alcohol treatment. Only 7% of referrals to treatment for opioid addiction came from the criminal justice system (see chart below).
Source: The TEDS Report: Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions Referred by the Criminal Justice System — August 13, 2009
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NEW RESOURCES
CSAT Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) 52 Now Available - Clinical Supervision and Professional Development of the Substance Abuse Counselor
Clinical supervision has become the cornerstone of quality improvement in the substance abuse treatment field. In addition to providing a bridge between the classroom and the clinic, clinical supervision improves client care, develops the professionalism of clinical personnel, and imparts and maintains ethical standards in the field. Organized into three parts, TIP 52: Clinical Supervision and Professional Development of the Substance Abuse Counselor presents basic information about clinical supervision:
- Part 1 (for clinical supervisors): presents basic information about clinical supervision in the substance abuse treatment field and provides a "how to" of clinical supervision.
- Part 2 (for program administrators): helps administrators understand the benefits and rationale behind providing clinical supervision for their program’s substance abuse counselors.
- Part 3 consists of three sections: an analysis of the available literature, an annotated bibliography of the literature most central to the topic, and a bibliography of other available literature. Part 3 is available only online through KAP.
TIP 52 can be downloaded at:
http://kaplist.jbsinternational.com/lists/lt.php?id=cU0CBAsIVFFLUgoESlVWCAA%3D
http://kaplist.jbsinternational.com/lists/lt.php?id=cU0CBAsIVFdLUgoESlVWCAA%3D
Source: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - November 12, 2009
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Columbia University Publishes Free HIV Handbook Online
Columbia University in New York City has published a revised edition of its comprehensive HIV/AIDS handbook, intended for those at risk of HIV infection and people currently living with the virus. The Columbia Handbook on HIV and AIDS combines and updates two previous works originally published by Simon & Schuster (Pocket Books): The Essential AIDS Fact Book and The Essential HIV Treatment Fact Book. The new handbook, which some have called an AIDS bible, offers key information on HIV transmission and prevention methods plus the basics of HIV treatment. Chapters include:
- Causes, Characteristics, and Transmission
- Observed Patterns of Illness
- Prevention and Risk Reduction
- Testing for HIV
- Treatment
- Further Information for HIV-infected People
The 116-page document can be downloaded for no charge at:
http://www.health.columbia.edu/pdfs/AIDS_HIV_Handbook.pdf
Source: Columbia University - October 13, 2009
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All facts and opinions are those of the sources cited. News reports may have been edited for length and/or modified for clarity without altering essential data as originally published.
Addiction Treatment Forum and its associates do not endorse any medications, products, or treatments described, mentioned, or discussed in any of the sources referenced. Nor are any representations made concerning efficacy, appropriateness, or suitability of any such products or treatments. This News Update is made possible by an educational grant from Covidien Mallinckrodt, St. Louis, MO, a manufacturer of methadone and naltrexone.
In view of the possibility of human error or advances in medical knowledge, Addiction Treatment Forum and its associates do not warrant the information contained in the above news updates is in every respect accurate or complete, and they are not responsible nor liable for any errors or omissions that may be found in such information or for results obtained from use of such information.