Baltimore, MD – Ameritox, a leader in pain medication monitoring, announced the results of a study today that reveals dangers facing the most vulnerable patients, those that are combating addiction.
Sublingual buprenorphine (i.e. Suboxone) is a medication used for the treatment of opioid dependence. Ameritox presented urine drug monitoring data at the American Academy of Pain Management meeting showing that approximately 95 percent of patients prescribed buprenorphine had evidence that they had taken the medication. The data also revealed that for the remaining 5 percent the likelihood of finding an opioid that was not prescribed, or finding the illicit drug heroin, was four to five times greater than for the group where buprenorphine was detected.
“When you don’t find the prescribed Suboxone, you frequently find dangerous illicit drugs or non-prescribed medications, which is very concerning in a group of patients already diagnosed with an addictive disorder,” said Kathryn Bronstein, Ameritox Vice President of Medical Affairs.
Earlier this year, Ameritox released a National Prescription Drug Report showing the rate of illicit drug use within the chronic pain community to be at 11.1 percent. For comparison, illicit drugs are found in more than a quarter of patient samples that test negatively for sublingual buprenorphine.
Additional information on the methods, design and results of the research are available at Ameritox.com/research.
Source: Ameritox