However, MAT Medication Assisted Treatment is certainly not a “cure” for addiction and is not appropriate for all patients. The extent to which any doctor can help a patient with substance use disorders is limited by the medications which are currently approved by the FDA for this use. Buprenorphine and Naltrexone products are what physicians have to work with in saving lives. We must address a patient’s individual circumstances which requires a highly trained and experienced physician to properly administer this treatment.

Addiction professionals agree that addiction is a chronic disease. We have a national heroin and prescription opioid epidemic killing hundreds daily. This needs to be addressed immediately and in a concerted, multi-factorial approach. The traditional, current treatment paradigms are not successful to any meaningful extent in dealing with this epidemic. We are simply not adapting to the realities of this dire situation.