Buprenorphine Treatment – Emerging Research Findings. Clinical Practice and Reimbursement

Sunday, October 21, 2007
Time: 9:30 AM – 12:00 Noon

Petra Jacobs, M.D. (Chair)
Center for the Clinical Trials Network
NIDA/NIH/HHS
Rockville, MD

Walter Ling, MD
Pacific Node/CTN
Integrated Substance Abuse Programs
University of California
Los Angeles, CA

Nicholas Reuter, MPH
Division of Pharmacologic Therapies
CSAT/SAMHSA/HHS
Rockville, MD

George Woody, MD
Delaware Valley Node/CTN
Department of Psychiatry
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

Learning Objectives
1. Participants will enhance their knowledge on how to use buprenorphine in clinical settings. The main focus will be on learning the strategy to get patients off buprenorphine after a period of maintenance treatment.

2. Participants will learn of the potential value of buprenorphine in treating adolescents and young adults with opioid dependence.

3. Participants will learn about how buprenorphine treatment is implemented nationally, regionally, and within individual states, together with information on resources available to physicians just starting buprenorphine treatment and different views on buprenorphine treatment.

The Clinical Trials Network (CTN)/NIDA/NIH is focused on the design and implementation of clinically relevant studies in the field of drug addiction treatment research. It consists of seventeen geographically diverse “Nodes” centered in key academic institutions, partnering with local Community Treatment Programs (CTPs). This Pre-Conference session will present results from two CTN critical buprenorphine studies, presented by Drs. Walter Ling (1) and George Woody (2):

1. Comparison of two taper schedules following buprenorphine/naloxone stabilization. This study was undertaken to compare, in an outpatient setting, the relative utility of two buprenorphine/naloxone tapering schedules (one rapid and one gradual) following four weeks of buprenorphine/naloxone stabilization. Participants were randomized to one of two taper schedules, either 7 days or 28 days.

2. Comparison of 3-month course of buprenorphine/naloxone treatment to brief detoxification in adolescents and young adults with opioid dependence. This is the first study of buprenorphine/naloxone that included a significant number of adolescent opioid addicts (ages 14-21). The study was designed to determine if a 3-month course of buprenorphone/naloxone stabilization plus usual psychosocial treatment results in improved treatment outcomes compared to usual treatment, which is a brief detoxification with buprenorphine plus psychosocial treatment.

The Center for Substance Treatment (CSAT) /SAMHSA/HHS promotes the quality and availability of community based substance abuse treatment services for individuals and families who need them. Mr. Reuter of the Division of Pharmacologic Therapies will provide an overview of buprenorphine implementation from a national, regional, and state perspective, reviewing the financing, training, and physician practice issues that may be affecting prescribing patterns. In addition, the review will address the use of systems such as the Physicians Clinical Support System and the success of that system in assisting physicians with initial patient inductions.

Sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (NIDA / CTN) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).