Nora Volkow: Maximizing the Benefits and Availabillity of Abuse Deterrent Opioids

One of the biggest concerns in the opioid epidemic is the medications being abused by patients and those who get the drugs through other methods. While technology is being developed to help in this issue getting these changes into the market has been more difficult so far.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Atlanta, Nora D. Volkow, MD, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse said her group is working to help make this potentially beneficial medicine more readily available to the public which can benefit from it. If insurance companies won't pay for this formulation and the prices stay higher than patients can afford on their own Volkow said they are not reaching their full potential. Because of these and other challenges Volkow said it is becoming more difficult for patients with chronic pain to get the help they might need, whether that is from opioids or other medications.