Illinois Among States Lacking In Opioid Addiction Drug Providers

Eleven states in the Midwest and the mid-Atlantic — including Illinois — are falling short on addressing the opioid crisis as not enough providers carry a key medication used to treat opioid addiction, according to a new study. The study by the health research firm Avalere found that these states have a significantly lower-than-average rate of providers that prescribe buprenorphine compared to the number of opioid overdose deaths.

Medication-assisted treatment is considered the gold standard in treating opioid addiction. Buprenorphine, also known as Suboxone, stops cravings and blocks withdrawal symptoms. A study comparing buprenorphine with another drug used to treat opioid addiction, naltrexone, found that the two drugs are as effective once treatment begins, according to Vox.com. However, it is much harder to get people started on naltrexone because it requires a significant detoxification period while buprenorphine does not, Vox reports.

To prescribe buprenorphine, physicians have to meet certain training requirements, and there is a limit on the number of patients a physician can prescribe the medication to. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016 allowed nurse practitioners and physician assistants to seek a federal waiver to prescribe buprenorphine after they complete 24 hours of training. Nurse practitioners and physicians can prescribe buprenorphine to 30 patients every year.

Avalere's study found that even with policies designed to increase the number of buprenorphine providers, the availability of such providers is uneven across states. Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin are the 11 states that have significantly lower than average rates or providers compared to opioid overdose deaths. The District of Columbia also had a lower than average rate of buprenorphine providers compared to opioid overdose deaths.

Data from the White House shows that 47 percent of counties do not have a waived physician that can prescribe buprenorphine and the vast majority of these counties are rural.

According to Avalere, on average, there are 1.6 opioid overdoses per buprenorphine prescriber nationwide. Nine states, Arizona, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah, have lower rates of prescribers per overdose than the national average.

Avalere analyzed data on drug overdose deaths from the Centes for Disease Control and used the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration database to locate buprenorphine providers.

You can see the full study here.

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