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Prior to 2000, only physicians could treat those with opioid
addiction and had to register with the DEA as both physicians
and operators of narcotic treatment programs. The latest change
is part of a 2016 law that added categories of practitioners who
may prescribe the narcotic drug buprenorphine for maintenance or
detoxification treatment, the DEA said in a statement.
A 2017 study published by the National Rural Health Association
found that 53 percent of rural counties had no physician able to
prescribe medication to those addicted to opioids, the DEA said.
About 90 percent of physicians allowed to prescribe such
medication live in urban counties, and 30 million people live in
areas where treatment is unavailable.
About 5,000 mid-level practitioners can now prescribe the
medication, and nearly 43,000 practitioners may qualify to do
so, the DEA said.
Rural America has more drug overdose deaths than urban areas, a
2017 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
showed. Prescription drug abuse is a leading cause of death,
with opioids killing more than 42,000 people in 2016, the
highest U.S. death toll of any year on record, CDC said.
"This action reflects this work and the ongoing need to further
expand access to the most effective treatment for opioid use
disorder," said David Fiellin, professor of medicine, emergency
medicine and public health at Yale School of Medicine, in an
email.
(Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Richard Chang)
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