A Look at Buprenorphine and it's Effectiveness
Justin Sampson
Psych 531 Psychobiology
Paper Assignment Buprenorphine is a semi-synthetic opioid that can be used to treat opioid dependence of various types including heroin, and a vast array of prescription opiates/opioids. It is a drug that’s use is relatively new in the field of opioid addiction/treatment compared to traditional older drugs like methadone and LAAM (Levacetylmethadyl), however the drug itself is not new. Since its discovery by Reckitt Benckiser in 1980 (then called Reckitt & Colman) is has been used in low doses (< 1mg) to treat moderate pain, as it is a partial mu agonist (Wesson & Smith, 2010). In 2002 the FDA approved the drug in high dose formulations, in the form of Subutex (buprenorphine) 2mg and 8mg sublingual tablets, and Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) 2mg and 8mg sublingual tablets for the use of detoxification and long term opioid replacement therapy. Since this approval buprenorphine has been primarily used for this purpose (Wesson & Smith, 2010). Buprenorphine has been gaining notoriety in the field of pharmacological opioid treatment as a better alternative to methadone because of it’s easier availability/dispensability as a C-III controlled substance as opposed to the more strict and regulated C-II status of methadone, less side effects, less severe withdrawal syndrome, among many other things (Wesson & Smith, 2010). The first article I chose to examine, (Awgu, Magura, & Rosenblum, 2010) examines two pharmacological treatments for opioid dependence, methadone and buprenorphine/naloxone (specifically, Suboxone) and how inmates in the Key Extended Entry Program (KEEP) at Rikers Island Jail felt about their experience with either drug they happened to receive in a parent experiment. Awgu et al. (2010) describes the parent study, “…was a short-term clinical trial of buprenorphine that voluntarily randomly assigned inmates to either maintenance with methadone, the standard care of the Rikers jail, or with buprenorphine
Psych 531 Psychobiology
Paper Assignment Buprenorphine is a semi-synthetic opioid that can be used to treat opioid dependence of various types including heroin, and a vast array of prescription opiates/opioids. It is a drug that’s use is relatively new in the field of opioid addiction/treatment compared to traditional older drugs like methadone and LAAM (Levacetylmethadyl), however the drug itself is not new. Since its discovery by Reckitt Benckiser in 1980 (then called Reckitt & Colman) is has been used in low doses (< 1mg) to treat moderate pain, as it is a partial mu agonist (Wesson & Smith, 2010). In 2002 the FDA approved the drug in high dose formulations, in the form of Subutex (buprenorphine) 2mg and 8mg sublingual tablets, and Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) 2mg and 8mg sublingual tablets for the use of detoxification and long term opioid replacement therapy. Since this approval buprenorphine has been primarily used for this purpose (Wesson & Smith, 2010). Buprenorphine has been gaining notoriety in the field of pharmacological opioid treatment as a better alternative to methadone because of it’s easier availability/dispensability as a C-III controlled substance as opposed to the more strict and regulated C-II status of methadone, less side effects, less severe withdrawal syndrome, among many other things (Wesson & Smith, 2010). The first article I chose to examine, (Awgu, Magura, & Rosenblum, 2010) examines two pharmacological treatments for opioid dependence, methadone and buprenorphine/naloxone (specifically, Suboxone) and how inmates in the Key Extended Entry Program (KEEP) at Rikers Island Jail felt about their experience with either drug they happened to receive in a parent experiment. Awgu et al. (2010) describes the parent study, “…was a short-term clinical trial of buprenorphine that voluntarily randomly assigned inmates to either maintenance with methadone, the standard care of the Rikers jail, or with buprenorphine