Med’s Ryan Marino talks about progress made to ensuring access to buprenorphine and methadone

Overdoses are soaring, but medications can reduce death by 50 percent. So why aren’t we using them?
SalonRyan Marino, assistant professor at the School of Medicine, said progress has been made to ensure access to buprenorphine and methadone, but for many the medications remain elusive. “The fact that there was this whole system, this separate license requirement and training, created this false idea for prescribers and for everyone in general that it was somehow dangerous, more difficult to start and a more complicated drug that had a lot more risk,” Marino said. “It’s actually safer than a lot of things people feel maybe too comfortable prescribing every day.”