Opioid relapse rates fall with use of medication for adults in criminal justice system

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-03/nlmc-orr033016.php

Public Release: 30-Mar-2016
Opioid relapse rates fall with use of medication for adults in criminal justice system
First large-scale, multi-site clinical trial in US of extended-release naltrexone shows promise for broader, more effective treatment
NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine

Opioid addiction is a rapidly escalating public health crisis in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses accounted for more deaths nationwide in 2013 than automobile accidents--with 71 percent of these overdose deaths attributed to opioid painkillers.

Now, new research findings could shed important light in addressing this epidemic. A study from NYU Langone Medical Center in collaboration with lead site, the Center for Studies of Addiction at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and three other sites, published online March 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that in a randomized controlled clinical trial an extended-release version of the opioid addiction medication naltrexone (Vivitrol) significantly prevented relapses in men with previous involvement with the criminal justice system.

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tags: drug use, drug abuse