NEWSLANC EDITOR: The below is a tragic account of how well meaning but usually ineffective 12 –step programs and their like are foistured on heroin addicts rather than providing them with a combination of effective medicines and professional counseling.
HUFFINGTON POST: …. Anne’s thoughts raced to her days at the methadone clinic. So many of her clients had done well: the smartly attired stockbroker who came in every day, the man who drove a Pepsi truck making deliveries all over the state, the schoolteacher who taught full time. She was also familiar with a newer maintenance medication on the market sold under the brand name Suboxone. Like methadone, Suboxone blocks both the effects of heroin withdrawal and an addict’s craving and, if used properly, does it without causing intoxication. Unlike methadone, it can be prescribed by a certified family physician and taken at home, meaning a recovering addict can lead a normal life, without a daily early-morning commute to a clinic. The medical establishment had come to view Suboxone as the best hope for addicts like Patrick.
Yet of the dozens of publicly funded treatment facilities throughout Kentucky, only a couple offer Suboxone, with most others driven instead by a philosophy of abstinence that condemns medical assistance as not true recovery. Even at clinics that offer the medication, the upfront costs and budget limitations render it out of reach for the vast majority who come through their doors. But Patrick had insurance, and Anne, with her treatment background, thought she could find a prescribing doctor.
“Patrick, we can get you the medication,” Anne told her son. “There are other options. We can put you on methadone or we can get you Suboxone. There are other things that you can do besides the 12-step program.”… (more)
