USA. Bad Weather Take Home Doses for Opioid Treatment Program Patients
USA. Bad Weather Take Home Doses for Opioid Treatment Program Patients
We’ve had some snowy days in my area, and this means administrators at our opioid treatment program must decide if we should provide extra take home doses to patients for the days when travel will be treacherous.
Because take home doses are closely regulated at opioid treatment programs, both for methadone and buprenorphine, we must get special permission from state and federal regulatory agencies to give extra take home doses. We do this by submitting what’s called an “exception request.” This is an online form where we describe why we are requesting an extra take home, and for whom it will apply. Part of our job is assuring the authorities we won’t give extra take homes to patients who can’t manage them safely.
Ultimately, it’s up to me, the medical director, to decide the risk level of each patient. Which is more dangerous, driving on snowy roads to get to the opioid treatment program to dose, or having an extra take home bottle of medication? I need input from the staff to make the best decisions, so this can be time consuming.
Admittedly, my program failed our patients this last week. (Janaburson’s Blog, 22.01.2018)