Controlled Access to Methadone Fuels ‘The War on Recovery’ in California

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The specter of the opioid epidemic has shadowed life in California for nearly three decades, and opioid deaths in the state are rising precipitously. Physicians have long advocated the use of life-saving opioid medications methadone and buprenorphine to treat addiction. Despite methadone’s proven effectiveness, access to the drug has been blocked across the health care system – and California is among the most restrictive states in the nation. This week, new federal regulations take effect that could expand access to methadone treatment. STAT addiction reporter Lev Facher examined access to these medications in a recent investigation titled “The War on Recovery.” We’ll talk about what this shift at the national level means for addiction treatment in California. And we’ll hear from you: Has access to methadone had an impact on your life or recovery? Guests: Lev Facher, addiction reporter, STAT News Leslie Suen, physician and researcher, University of California San Francisco Jordan Scott, disabled drug user in recovery; organizing coordinator, Pennsylvania Harm Reduction network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:55.8	The very from kQED from kQBD from kQBD in san Francisco, I'm Nina Kim.
1:02.9	Coming up on Forum, why certain treatments for opioid addiction are so hard to come by in California and the nation.
1:09.1	For years, studies have shown methadone and buprenorphine to be effective at preventing overdose deaths. And doctors have long advocated their use, according to stat addiction reporter Lev Fasher.
1:14.6	Yet, many states make it hard to access these treatments, with California among the most restrictive.
1:20.6	With more than 80,000 people dying each year from overdose, we take a closer look at barriers to getting methadone
1:26.6	and how new federal rules
1:28.7	that just took effect yesterday could help. Join us. Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. The U.S.
1:42.4	has been struggling with an opioid crisis for decades, now supercharged
1:46.7	by fentanyl. Yet for years, the nation has had at its disposable, highly effective ways of
1:52.7	preventing overdose deaths, which claim so many lives each year, namely methadone and buprenorphine.
1:59.5	A year-long investigation by stat looks at why these medications have been so hard for people
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