The number of heroin addicts currently treated with buprenorphine (Subutex) is estimated at 150,000 in France. This medication is prescribed as a substitute for opiates during withdrawal, to reduce its effects. Its prescription be associated with medical care and can only be prescribed after a well-conducted treatment with methadone.
But Subutex is today diverted from its use and sought after by heroin addicts who use it by intravenous injection after having dissolved it in water. A practice that the Academy of Medicine points to in calling on the public authorities, because it is the cause of 30 to 40 deaths each year.
“Measures were taken in 2008 by the public authorities to combat the misuse of this product, but the results obtained are insufficient today” insists the Academy of Medicine. To fight against the traffic of Subutex, which costs about 250 million per year to the paying agencies, the Academy advises doctors to prefer the prescription of generics of Subutex, less soluble, which cannot be used by injection. “You can also use Suboxone® which combines naloxone with buprenorphine. This combination prevents the shoot effect sought by the injection of buprenorphine” she adds.
Finally, she urges doctors and health professionals that the objective of weaning be truly privileged and that, for this purpose, methadone be prescribed as a first-line treatment.
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