pharmacotherapy

This meta-analysis of research on medication to treat methamphetamine use disorder finds that only one medication, methylphenidate, has any efficacy in reducing use. 

Instead of a set programme, a clinic in London tried offering patients prescribed methadone or buprenorphine but still using heroin or cocaine a selection from a suite of well-supported psychological interventions tailored to the patient, and then systematically re-tailored in the light of how they responded.

Medication of the type heralded as a possible “game-changer” by one of the UK’s leading addiction treatment clinicians and researchers proved its worth in a US placebo-controlled trial. Buprenorphine injections with effects lasting a month are now available in the UK, offering a new option for treating dependence on heroin and allied drugs.

*Updated with UK licensing information and advice released in February 2019 by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence*

What could prove a technical advance in the medication-based treatment of dependence on heroin and allied drugs was rigorously tested and partially vindicated among hundreds of patients at over 30 US clinics.