Addiction

Data-Driven Interventions: TMA Zeroes in on Quality Opioid Care - 04/01/2024

TMA zeroes in on physicians’ obstacles to quality opioid care.

Reintegration: NarxCare and Pharmacy Management Systems Free for Physicians - 11/07/2023

Integration of the state prescription monitoring program and NarxCare into EHRs and pharmacy management systems again is free for physicians, following TMA advocacy

TMA Community Outreach Program Grants Top Media Award for Opioid Crisis Coverage - 05/10/2023

Addressing the opioid crisis has been a long-standing priority for the Texas Medical Association, and the topic garnered the kudos of the association’s community outreach program connecting medicine to the media.

Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioids, Alcohol, Tobacco: What You Should Know - 04/19/2023

Concern about opioids – especially the growing threat of overdose posed by illicit fentanyl – has created heightened awareness about treatment options for people with substance use disorders. One of the oldest and most effective is medication-assisted treatment.

Taking the Pain out of Prescribing Opioids: CDC Revises Guidelines - 04/14/2023

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued guidelines to help physicians prescribe opioids safely, and one of the reasons, the agency freely admits, is to clear up confusion caused by its last set of guidelines, which were issued in 2016.

Congress Eliminates Barrier to Opioid Use Disorder Drug Buprenorphine - 02/15/2023

The U.S. government recently ended a major restriction on prescribing buprenorphine, one of the most effective medications for treating opioid use disorder.

More than 1 million people died from alcohol-related causes over the past 20 years, a new study shows. The study, in which researchers analyzed all U.S. death certificates from 1999 to 2017, found that the number of alcohol-related deaths more than doubled during that time: from 35,914 to 72,558.

Get Qualified to Prescribe Opioid Addiction Medication - 07/22/2019

If you care for patients with opioid-use disorder, you’re probably familiar with buprenorphine, a medication that can be used at home to treat opioid addiction. But if you haven’t heard about it, or if you would like more information, tune in to a free online training course to qualify for a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine.

Changing the Conversation about Addiction - 05/24/2019

Drug addiction is a chronic medical disease, and stigma about it is keeping millions of Americans – including the growing number who suffer with opioid addiction – from getting proper medical treatment, one of the nation’s foremost addiction specialists told the closing general session audience at TexMed 2019 in Dallas.

Addiction Treatment Helps More Than Incarceration - 04/23/2019

We appreciate the opportunity to voice support and offer additional suggestions for Senate Bill 1147, which allows a judge to require that a defendant undergo an evaluation as to whether they would benefit from medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for alcohol dependence as a condition of their community supervision.

Improve Access to MAT for Medicaid Patients - 04/09/2019

While many patients want treatment for their substance use disorder (SUD), they often lack access to the most effective treatment for their individual needs. With proper treatment and support, people with SUD can recover and live, work, and contribute to the community. SUD can be successfully managed, generally with a combination of several evidence-based practices such as medication-assisted treatment (MAT), individual or group counseling, and inpatient residential treatment.