Benzodiazepines (a class of sedative medications best known by brand names like Valium, Xanax, and Klonopin) may be prescribed to patients who are receiving buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder (an opioid agonist medication best known in formulation with naloxone, marketed as Suboxone). Clinicians accept that there are both risks,...
Heroin might as well have been plutonium in my slice of suburbia. I knew the risks before taking my first hit. My therapist had prescribed every conceivable antidepressant. Nothing helped. I’d experimented with alcohol and pot and hated the effects. I wasn’t looking to escape...
Abstract Background and aims Evidence from randomized controlled trials establishes that medication treatment with methadone and buprenorphine reduces opioid use and improves treatment retention. However, little is known about the role of such medications compared with non‐medication treatments in mitigating overdose risk among US patient populations receiving...
While my wife and 2-year old daughter watched TV in the living room, I was in the kitchen, measuring the distance from the tip of my index finger to my armpit. I needed to know I could pull the trigger with a shotgun barrel in my...