Addiction expert questions recently approved anti-opioid implant
Addiction expert questions recently approved anti-opioid implant The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first-ever implant to fight opioid abuse last week, offering hope amid an epidemic that killed nearly half a million Americans between 2000 and 2015. But some addiction experts are arguing that making the implant commercially available is premature, as questions remain over whether it would do more harm than good. The matchstick-size implant, Probuphine, was developed by Braeburn Pharmaceuticals and Titan Pharmaceuticals, and is designed to release buprenorphine over a period of six months. Buprenorphine is used to treat opioid dependence including narcotic painkillers and heroin. It's part of a class of medications called opioid partial agonist-antagonists and works to prevent withdrawal symptoms when someone stops taking opiod drugs by producing similar effects to these drugs. Probuphine developers say the rod-like device is designed to make th...