About that Huffington Post article covering Obama's addiction speech a few weeks ago. ALLEGATION FACT FACT A Huffington Post investigation published in January found that the treatment industry overwhelmingly resists a medication-assisted model based on decades-old beliefs about sobriety that have been passed down by those in recovery, but have never been rigorously tested. Suboxone is the number 39 … Continue reading Don’t believe the hype
Author: Jason Schwartz
I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I currently serve as the Director of Social Work and Spiritual Care for a healthcare system. I've also served as the Director of Behavioral Health at another hospital. I'm also a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work.
Views expressed here are my own.
Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.
The gold standard and problem of coercion
I've written a lot on this blog about the gold standard model of treatment for addiction--health professional recovery programs. Whenever I discuss the model, I get a lot of responses that could be placed into the category of, "Yeah, but they're different. They're doctors. And, besides, they've got a lot to lose." I've addressed the … Continue reading The gold standard and problem of coercion
Gold standard addiction treatment
(This post was written by djmac and originally posted at Recovery Review. Re-posted with permission.) Addiction to alcohol or other drugs is not easy to recover from. However there are many pathways to recovery, including through treatment. One group of patients does far better than most other groups. In fact their results are so impressive … Continue reading Gold standard addiction treatment
Ten Years of Abstinence in Former Opiate Addicts
I recently stumbled on this article about methadone treatment in Oregon. The above graphic caught my attention. I found the original study, here are some of the highlights from it's conclusions. (MMT = methadone maintenance treatment; MR = medication free) Overall differences: The results of this study revealed that all in all, MMT patients suffered more … Continue reading Ten Years of Abstinence in Former Opiate Addicts
Mortality for methadone vs. buprenorphine
I recently stumbled on this article about methadone treatment in Oregon. I'd say the article is positive about maintenance drugs, but these sentences lept out at me. Opiate addicts who entered methadone programs were nearly five times more likely to die from drug overdoses within the first four weeks of treatment than those who entered … Continue reading Mortality for methadone vs. buprenorphine
Update on 911 Good Samaritan Legislation in Michigan
Baby Steps This summer, Michigan Rep. Al Pscholka (R-Stevensville) introduced House Bill 4843, a bipartisan measure, that would create Good Samaritan protections for individuals under the age of 21 who seek medical attention for themselves or another person believed to have overdosed. However, the Good Samaritan protections are limited to the illegal possession of prescription drugs (in … Continue reading Update on 911 Good Samaritan Legislation in Michigan
Sentences to ponder
From a meta-analysis on retention in medication assisted treatment: Notably, only a single study examined retention for longer than one year, even though the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) recommends a minimum of one year in methadone maintenance treatment for best outcomes.73 Indeed, despite extensive and prolonged use of methadone to treat heroin addiction … Continue reading Sentences to ponder
Buprenorphine Outpatient Outcomes Project
I recently came across this 2014 study of 220 buprenorphine patients. I mentioned it in another post and noted this sentence from the conclusion as underwhelming, "The number of legal charges for drug possession decreased from 70 to 62." Turns out that this sentence casts their outcomes in a misleadingly positive light. In the year … Continue reading Buprenorphine Outpatient Outcomes Project
Opiate-addicted Parents in Methadone Treatment: Long-term Recovery, Health and Family Relationships
I recently came across this 10 year follow-up of parents in methadone treatment and their children from 2011. Here's a review of their outcomes. First, here's their definition of recovery: Recovery status was based on recent drug use, history of drug problems, and history of incarceration. Long-term recovery was defined as no recent drug use (self-report … Continue reading Opiate-addicted Parents in Methadone Treatment: Long-term Recovery, Health and Family Relationships
Excessive certitude abound
UPDATE 2 (12:15 on 11/8/15) - A few hours ago, I posted about a pulled Huffington Post article that questioned parental rights for people on opioid replacement medication. In the original post, I failed to explicitly say that I strongly disagree with this position. It's an awful thing to say. I should have made this very … Continue reading Excessive certitude abound
Recovery Review 