Opioid Addiction Treatment Process Affected by Government Shutdown

Updated February 28, 2019 This content is archived.

An article about the impact the partial government shutdown is having on broad segments of society interviews Anthony D. Martinez, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine and an addiction medicine specialist, who has been able to help about 95 patients by prescribing suboxone to help wean them off opioids. The article notes that the federal government mandates that doctors prescribe the drug to no more than 100 patients unless they apply for a waiver that allows them to treat up to 275 people, but with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration shut down, waivers aren’t being processed.