Clinicians say Suboxone could benefit problem drug users and provide treatment option.
Health authorities are seeking funding for the roll-out of an alternative to methadone for treating people with heroin and other opiate drug addictions.
Clinicians and patient groups have long been critical of the absence of an alternative to methadone, given that a majority of patients do not move on from the treatment.
More than 10,000 people received methadone last year as a treatment for drug addiction. Some 3,300 have been in receipt of the drug for a decade or more.
A number of Health Service Executive and Department of Health expert group reports have called over recent years for wider access to Suboxone as an alternative to methadone.
The drug is produced as a tablet, taken under the tongue and used as a treatment for patients with dependence on opioid drugs such as heroin, morphine and codeine. It contains two active ingredients, buprenorphine – which reduces symptoms of dependency on opioid drugs – and naloxone, which guards against overdose through misuse.
One-size-fits-all approach
Dr Ide Delargy, a member of the HSE’s implementation group for the drug, said it was time the country moved on from a “one-size-fits-all” approach to opioid addiction. “I don’t think people would accept a situation in, say, heart disease that just one drugs is available,” say Dr Delargy. Ireland is one of four European Union member states where Suboxone is not available as an alternative to methadone. It typically accounts for between 20 and 30 per cent of the “market” in other European countries.
Source: Carl O'Brien, The Irish Times, 28/09/15
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