USA. Pandemic-based approach to methadone treatment restrictions should remain

When the COVID-19 pandemic ripped through New England and the rest of the United States in early 2020, substance use disorder treatment centers were forced to make massive changes to minimize the spread of coronavirus. 

The fear of COVID-19 spread into crowded treatment programs run by the national Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, prompting them to relax stringent federal regulations on distributing methadone, a common treatment for opioid use. The agency allowed programs to increase the number of take-home methadone doses that patients could receive and reduce the frequency of counseling and drug testing—changes that sparked concerns over medication diversion and lapses in treatment. 

But a new study by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health finds that these concerns appear unfounded. Relaxing the requirements for dispensing take-home methadone treatments did not significantly lead to an increase in fatal methadone-related overdoses in Connecticut at all, they found. The changes also did not result in reductions in the number of patients receiving treatment for their opioid use disorder.

Furthermore, the findings suggest that the changes to the restrictions on methadone implemented during the pandemic should continue indefinitely to improve access to the drug, the researchers wrote. (MedicalXpress, USA, 21.07.2021)

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-07-pandemic-based-approach-methadone-treatment-restrictions.html