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State-Level Influences On Buprenorphine Utilization: Variations In Opioid Addiction Treatment, Lisa M. Lines Mph, Robin E. Clark Phd

Lisa M. Lines

Research Objective: Buprenorphine is a medication used to treat opioid addiction. Physicians are required to have special Drug Enforcement Agency certification to prescribe buprenorphine. Although it is more accessible and potentially safer than methadone, the leading opioid addiction treatment modality, there appear to be state-to-state variations in rates of buprenorphine adoption and use. The purpose of this study was to identify state-level influences on the volume of buprenorphine prescribed, using a limited set of supply and demand measures. Study Design: We developed a database using data on buprenorphine prescribing and factors hypothesized to influence variations in prescribing obtained from the …