Pubdate: Mon, 11 May 2009 Source: Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (OH) Copyright: 2009 Lancaster Eagle-Gazette Contact: http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3143 Author: Morgan Day 'MIRACLE DRUG' HAS HIGH SUCCESS RATE FOR TREATING OPIATE ADDICTION Recovery Center Trying to Expand Suboxone's Use LANCASTER - Rampant opiate use in Fairfield County has local recovery officials wondering what they can do to help more addicted individuals. Pressed with time and a growing number of patients, many doctors are forced to turn away people hooked on opiates such as heroin, OxyContin, Vicodin, morphine and other pain relievers. Some even die on waiting lists for a widely used medication called Suboxone: A touted "miracle drug" that suppresses symptoms of withdrawal, reduces cravings, reduces drug use and helps patients stay in treatment. "With all the deaths and what's happening because of opiates, I just feel like we need more programs in Ohio for that," said Dr. Robert C. Polite, medical director at the Recovery Center in Lancaster. "That's on my wish list to get an opilaoid-treatment license for the Recovery Center where we do specifically Suboxone." Polite founded the Recovery Center's opiate-addiction recovery program that uses the drug Suboxone. His goal is to one day have a clinic devoted solely to helping those addicted to opiates. The center chalks up much of its success to the drug, which is helping many Fairfield County residents kick their opiate dependency. The center boasts a success rate of more than 60 percent. The medication blocks the ability for patients to get high off other drugs, but it still gives the patient a lower feeling of being high, said Recovery Center Clinical Director Sharon Shultz. "Can it get people high? Yes. But you have to make it very clear, it's like comparing a firecracker to a stick of dynamite," she said. The center adheres to strict rules for its patients: No skipping drug screenings. No missing treatments. No relapsing. And absolutely no selling medication, said Recovery Center Director Trisha Saunders "We're not trying to cut corners here," she said. Saunders has seen the dramatic turnaround in patients, not only in physical health but in their attitude about recovery, she said. "It's awful to see when they first come in," she said. "They're irritable, they're shaking, they're throwing up. A week later, they're a totally different person." Patients typically stay on the medication 10 to 18 months, and more than half refrain from opiate use after treatment. That's a drastically higher success rate than any other type of addiction treatment, Shultz said. "With every level of treatment we could throw at them, it's only about a 1 to 5 percent (success rate)," she said. Patients use the drug by placing a pill under the tongue. Then they wait about five to 10 minutes for the pill to dissolve. The center has a 30- to 40-person waiting list for the Suboxone program, with more than 50 being treated right now. It's the fact others are waiting their turn - often in critical stages of dependency - - that makes the Recovery Center strict on its Suboxone patients, Shultz said. A lot of patients understand the severity of their situations and stick to the rules, she said. "They get it," she said. "The people that are serious about it are like, 'No problem.'" The number of patients treated in the program has more than doubled in the past two years, since the Recovery Center started offering the treatment program. But, Polite said the program still is fairly new and malleable. "Because it's new and because we're on new ground, we're kind of feeling our way into making this work," he said. "So we're changing, and we're adapting to the environment." Polite cited a great need for this type of treatment in Fairfield County. He said one of the challenges with the program is getting more patients in the door for help. The problem lies in the number of patients doctors are prohibited to see, Polite said. On top of that, only specially-licensed doctors may prescribe Suboxone. Until the Recovery Center can increase its patient base, it will continue with its Suboxone program and pro-active education of the public to combat drug use in the county, he said. "We're saving lives," he said. "We're getting people back into the workforce. We're taking folks out of circulation from the drug force. We're keeping people from going to jail because they're having to rob and steal and sell their bodies to stay ahead of the withdrawal symptoms." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake