It seems that PHARMA's difficulty in developing drugs with stronger effects than placebo has prompted a creative response to the researching drugs. Kas Thomas at assertTrue(), directs us to a scholarly journal article tackling the "problem": But then Fava and his coauthors make the baffling statement: "Thus far, there has been no attempt to develop … Continue reading The placebo “problem”
Category: Treatment
Heroin Shortages Drive Deadly Alternatives
Though the federal government is participating in marketing buprenorphine as having low addiction potential, buprenorphine is being identified as a growing problem overseas: Responses to the drought varied by country, with drug users in each developing their own preferences for heroin alternatives, according to reports from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and … Continue reading Heroin Shortages Drive Deadly Alternatives
Pharma gamesmanship in addiction
Points offers a post summarizing the history of Suboxone up to the present. Including the role of NIDA in helping Reckitt: Reckitt brought Subutex and Suboxone to market with part of the costs of development absorbed by NIDA “to ease the burden to Reckitts” (Campbell and Lovell 2012: 135). They note that Reckitt had … Continue reading Pharma gamesmanship in addiction
The “decline effect” hits naltrexone
The "decline effect" hits naltrexone. Background Oral naltrexone is an FDA-approved medication for treating alcohol use disorders. Although its efficacy has been supported in multiple clinical trials, an earlier review found that its effect sizes (ESs) on relapse to heavy drinking and, to a lesser extent, percent days drinking were smaller in more recent trials … Continue reading The “decline effect” hits naltrexone
$2.2 billion invested in addiction treatment and behavioral health companies
Businessweek has a damning investigation of for-profit methadone treatment. And, who knew that Bain Capital is such a player? Since Jan. 1, 2009, CRC’s clinics haven’t met staffing standards more than 50 times, regulatory records from 15 states show. Clinics were cited 80 times for failing to document that they gave patients enough counseling. … Continue reading $2.2 billion invested in addiction treatment and behavioral health companies
Sentences to ponder
“My best advice to clinicians, to the press, and to the general public—be skeptical and don't follow DSM-5 blindly down a road likely to lead to massive over-diagnosis and harmful over-medication.” --Allen Frances, Chair of the DSM-IV Task Force
Methadonia
When Methadonia was first released, there was quite a bit of hand wringing over whether the film inaccurately presented methadone maintenance treatment in a negative light. Cassie Rodenberg, at The White Noise, who has been spending time with and blogging about homeless addicts in the Bronx says [emphasis mine]: Some on the streets find methadone worse than an original heroin addiction, while … Continue reading Methadonia
Dead addicts don’t recover, but…
This has gotten a lot of press. There's naloxone distribution doubt this will reduce overdose deaths. However, some pretty important questions remain: What happens after the overdose? What services/interventions might have prevented the overdose in the first place? The article references placing defibrillators in public places. What happens after someone is saved by one of those defibrillators? … Continue reading Dead addicts don’t recover, but…
Some people say…
Ugh. A pretty visible blogger resorts to the "some people say" tactic to advance a pet theory that slanders 12-step groups. It's worth noting that he's acknowledged elsewhere that he's had next to zero direct exposure to 12-step groups. His knowledge of 12-step groups and theory are based on internet comments. Ugh. Ugh. The 12-step approach has been said (by … Continue reading Some people say…
What what?
A new study looking at the comparative effectiveness of various coping skills for dealing with urges to drink in preventing relapse reports some counter-intuitive findings [emphasis mine]: ...relying on going to a meeting or talking to a sponsor or counselor when experiencing an urge was not correlated with improved drinking outcomes. and Ineffective skills in this population … Continue reading What what?
Recovery Review 