Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biotech Firm Sees Option For Home Addiction Treatment Similar To Giving Insulin For Diabetes
Stat: Company Hopes To Make Addiction Treatment For Home Use
A California-based addiction treatment company hopes to change the way patients struggling with substance abuse disorder receive a popular form of medication-assisted treatment. If approved, patients could self-administer naltrexone, an opioid antagonist, in the comfort of their own homes — like insulin, but for recovering addicts. The promise of this advancement has some addiction experts excited about a product that could reduce the stigma surrounding recovery. Others, though, remain wary of moving such treatment out of a doctor’s office and away from wraparound services seen as essential for staying clean. (Blau, 4/28)
Kaiser Health News: Try This At Home: Program Brings Drug Addiction Treatment To Patients
Hannah Berkowitz is 20 years old. When she was a senior in high school, her life flew off the rails. She was abusing drugs. She was suicidal. She moved into a therapeutic boarding school to get sober, but she could stay sober only while she was on campus during the week. “I’d come home and try to stay sober really hard — really, really hard,” said Berkowitz, who had trouble staying away from old friends and bad habits. ... But Berkowitz did have luck. She had private health insurance and lived in Connecticut, where a startup company, Aware Recovery Care, had begun treating clients in the very environment where Hannah struggled to stay sober: her home. (Rodolico, 4/28)
