When Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Gets Disrupted by Extra-Clinical Variables, How Should Clinicians Respond?
Article
El-Sabawi, T, Gillespie, K. (2024). When Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Gets Disrupted by Extra-Clinical Variables, How Should Clinicians Respond?
. 26(7), E520-E526. 10.1001/amajethics.2024.520
El-Sabawi, T, Gillespie, K. (2024). When Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Gets Disrupted by Extra-Clinical Variables, How Should Clinicians Respond?
. 26(7), E520-E526. 10.1001/amajethics.2024.520
Structural and systemic discrimination against people with substance use disorder is pervasive. Clinicians caring for patients receiving medications for opioid use disorders (MOUDs) should plan for possible disruptions of treatment caused by arrests and pretrial confinement in jails. This case commentary suggests that harms caused by such treatment disruption can be mitigated by clinicians who take some of the practical approaches outlined in this commentary to better preserve continuity of care for people receiving MOUD.