State wise to speed access to addiction meds

addiction medication other than this single designated preferred drug would be best for him or her, a timeeating delay ensued. The patient’s physician is forced to navigate a tedious, timeconsuming process to gain “prior authorization” — so the doctor can write a prescription for a different, proven medication that is deemed to offer the patient the best chance of kicking his or her dependency.

It takes up to five days to get prior authorization. That is a dangerous time for someone addicted to opioids. If forced to wait for treatment, many patients often go looking on the street for illicit drugs instead of waiting for the prescription.

The patient might buy a more-powerful street drug such as heroin laced with fentanyl to try to satisfy this all-consuming craving, and could die as a result.

Or the patient might get arrested, and miss their treatment appointment. Or get so stoned that they don’t show up for treatment. This is not something that happens occasionally. It happens frequently. And it’s wrong.

While the patient is a slave to his or her addiction, physicians are tightly harnessed to this inefficient and limiting system. It is beyond frustrating.

Restricting the availability of opioid addiction medications has been a detriment to patient care. It is a practice often employed by pharmacy benefit managers — private consultants who advise managed-care plans — in order to obtain discounts from pharmaceutical manufacturers. Reducing the cost of health care is indeed a worthy pursuit when dealing with certain medications. But it is not appropriate when trying to address an epidemic. The results can be deadly.

When it comes to the state’s opioid crisis, we need to make all proven products available without any bureaucratic barriers. Such open access to these medications is supported by a broad array of groups including the Trump Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, The Kennedy Forum, the American Medical Association and the American Society for Addiction Medicine.

Ohio physicians who practice addiction medicine have for years advocated expanding the access to medications for Medicaid patients. It is indeed refreshing that Ohio Medicaid Director Barbara Sears listened and recommended expanded access to opioid-addiction treatments. She is to be commended.

On Oct. 3, the Ohio Medicaid Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, which is composed of accomplished medical professionals, considered and accepted Sears’ recommendation. Those committee members are to be applauded. This will take effect pending the director’s final endorsement, which we hope will happen within the next two weeks.

Ohio — like much of the nation — is under siege from the devastating scourge of opioid abuse. An average of 13 Ohioans die daily from drug overdoses. Ohio’s drug-overdose deaths rose 39 percent — the thirdlargest increase among the states — between mid-2016 and mid-2017, according to The Dispatch.

Expanding access to additional proven addiction medications alone won’t end Ohio’s opioid problem.

But it’s a big step in the right direction. It will allow doctors to choose from an array of effective medications instead of limiting them. From someone who serves on the front lines of this grisly battle, I offer my sincere thanks.