Hot topic search results

Effectiveness bank home page. Opens new window Hot topic search results

You have found 11 entries after clicking the GO button or a search link in a hot topic. Sorted by the main topic addressed, the list shows in orange the type of entry, year the original document was published (or if one of our own documents, the year last updated), and the type of file you will download when you click on the title. In blue is the document’s title followed by a brief description.

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DOCUMENT 2009 HTM file
Guidelines for the psychosocially assisted pharmacological treatment of opioid dependence

Unequivocal backing from UN agencies for methadone and other forms of long term maintenance treatments as the prime modality for the treatment of dependence on heroin and allied drugs. In contrast say the experts, detoxification results in poor long term outcomes.

STUDY 2010 HTM file
Naltrexone implants compared to methadone: outcomes six months after prison release

In the first study of its kind opiate-dependent prisoners in Norway were randomly allocated to a six-month implant which blocks the effects of heroin or to methadone which substitutes for heroin as a way of bridging the period after release. Among the few interested in either option, they led to equivalent reductions in opiate use and crime.

STUDY 2010 HTM file
Treatment research in prison: problems and solutions in a randomized trial

In the first study of its kind, as a way of bridging the period after release opiate-dependent prisoners in Norway were randomly allocated to a six-month implant which blocks the effects of heroin or to methadone which substitutes for heroin. Many prisoners rejected treatment, wrongly believing they would sustain abstinence on release.

HOT TOPIC 2018 HTM file
Opiate-blocking implants: magic bullet or dangerous experiment?

‘Hot topics’ offer background and analysis on important issues which sometimes generate heated debate. Opinion is sharply divided on the ethics and effectiveness of long-acting implanted or injected opiate-blocking medications, products not approved for medical practice in the UK, but which some see as a major breakthroughs in overcoming addiction to heroin and allied drugs.

STUDY 2015 HTM file
Extended-release naltrexone for alcohol and opioid problems in Missouri parolees and probationers

Long-acting injectable naltrexone blocks the effects of opiates for about a month and has also helped dependent drinkers cut back. Treatment records in the US state of Missouri showed that among the few problem substance using offenders allocated to or who chose this treatment, a much higher proportion became abstinent than those offered other kinds of addiction treatment.

STUDY 2015 HTM file
Opioid treatment at release from jail using extended-release naltrexone: a pilot proof-of-concept randomized effectiveness trial

Though few seemed willing to try this treatment, among those who did, opiate-blocking injections active for about a month helped formerly dependent prisoners in New York City’s jail avoid relapse to regular opiate use after release.

STUDY 2016 HTM file
Extended-release naltrexone to prevent opioid relapse in criminal justice offenders

Added to basic counselling alone, monthly injections of the opioid-blocking drug naltrexone helped prevent relapse among US offenders with a history of opioid dependence recently released from prison or under criminal justice supervision in the community – findings most applicable to those who prefer opioid-free to opioid-maintenance treatments.

DOCUMENT 2015 HTM file
American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) national practice guideline for the use of medications in the treatment of addiction involving opioid use

From the USA’s professional society for clinicians and allied professionals in the field of addiction medicine, comprehensive recommendations on how doctors can use medications to treat addiction to heroin and other opioids.

DOCUMENT 2017 HTM file
Drug misuse and dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management

Last published in 2007, there is no more important document for UK clinicians involved in treating problem drug use than the so-called ‘Orange guidelines’. This major update offers detailed guidance on the range of problems, settings and patients clinicians encounter, substantially informing judgements of what constitutes good medical practice.

HOT TOPIC 2018 HTM file
Ethics and evidence on naltrexone treatment of offenders

‘Hot topics’ offer background and analysis on important issues which sometimes generate heated debate. Opinion is sharply divided on the ethics and effectiveness of pressuring opioid-dependent offenders to take the opiate-blocker naltrexone. Especially sharp is the controversy over long-acting products not approved for medical practice in the UK. Do they constitute an unacceptable infringement of autonomy, or is forcing them on some offenders as caring as holding back someone about to (by choice or not) walk off a cliff?


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