Pubdate: Sat, 19 Mar 2016
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2016 The StarPhoenix
Contact:  http://thestarphoenix.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Jonathan Charlton
Page: A7

TWO NEW DRUGS GET OK TO FIGHT OPIOID ADDICTIONS

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan has added 
naloxone and buprenorphine to its methadone treatment guidelines.

It's a recognition of alternate drugs that are used to cope with 
opioid dependency, associate registrar Bryan Salte said.

The college introduced a new, more thorough 102-page set of 
guidelines last year based on Alberta's model. The guidelines help 
physicians who prescribe methadone - and now the new drugs - to 
patients with opioid addictions.

They spell out how to write prescriptions, assess potential patients 
and determine proper dosage as well as when to let patients take 
doses home and when to halt treatment.

In January, the college also approved doctors' ability to prescribe 
naloxone - a drug that can reverse the effects of an opiate overdose 
for long enough to obtain medical help - to family and friends of 
patients with opiate addictions. The policy is meant to reflect the 
fact that a person suffering an overdose is unable to self-administer the drug.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom