Description
Book SynopsisWhy medication-assisted treatment, the most effective tool for battling opioid addiction, is significantly underused in the United States. Bronze Winner of the 2021 IPPY Book Award in Health/Medicine/Nutrition, Gold Winner of the 2020 Foreword INDIES Award in HealthAmerica's addiction crisis is growing worse. More than 115 Americans die daily from opioid overdoses, with half a million deaths expected in the next decade. Time and again, scientific studies show that medications like Suboxone and methadone are the most reliable and effective treatment, yet more than 60 percent of US addiction treatment centers fail to provide access to them. In The Opioid Fix, Barbara Andraka-Christou highlights both the promise and the underuse of medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Addiction, Andraka-Christou writes, is a chronic medical condition. Why treat it, then, outside of mainstream medicine? Drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews with people in recovery, their family members, treatment
Trade ReviewThis book should be required reading for every American having any role in developing or implementing drug policy—perhaps that should include every registered voter.
—Caroline Jean Acker, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of History at Carnegie Mellon University, author of
Creating the American Junkie: Addiction Research in the Classic Era of Narcotic ControlTable of ContentsIntroduction
Chapter 1. What's Nixon Got to Do with It? A History of Medication-Assisted Treatment
Chapter 2. A Strained Relationship: Alcoholics Anonymous and Medication-Assisted Treatment
Chapter 3. The Perils and Promises of Treatment Centers
Chapter 4. Methadone Clinics: Maintaining Stigma for Decades
Chapter 5. The Elusive Addiction-Treating Physician
Chapter 6. When Criminal Justice Administrators Make Medical Decisions
Chapter 7. Learning from Other Countries
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
Index
