‘Behind-the-counter’ meds could safely treat opioid addiction

Making opioid use disorder medication more accessible as a behind-the-counter drug could save lives, researchers say.

As of now, the Food and Drug Administration has approved only three medications to treat opioid use disorder: Methadone, naltrexone, and buprenorphine.

But the opioid-based medications require a prescription for use, which can make them difficult to obtain for people who urgently need them to avoid relapse.

In a new editorial in JAMA, Boston University addiction experts Payel Roy and Michael Stein argue for making one of these three medications, buprenorphine, more accessible to patients as a behind-the-counter drug that pharmacists monitor and administer.

Here, they discuss why they think behind-the-counter buprenorphine could make a difference for people suffering from opioid withdrawal who don’t want to relapse to using drugs like heroin or fentanyl or painkillers like oxycodone.

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