Benzos and Buprenorphine

The high safety of buprenorphine, except when combined with a benzodiazepine, has been twisted in comments about the drug (and in the minds of regulators) to buprenorphine being uniquely dangerous when combined with benzodiazepines, which is not true. I’ve heard more and more from insurers, regulators, and well-meaning agencies about the dangers of combining buprenorphine and benzodiazepines.   Some insurers protest paying for buprenorphine if patients are taking benzodiazepines.  Medicaid recently sent a letter that described a ‘severe risk’ of using benzodiazepines in patients on buprenorphine.  And the state drug database contains a graph for each patient of the morphine-equivalent narcotic dose over time, and shades the data in red if benzodiazepines are also prescribed. Readers of my blog know I’m no big fan of benzodiazepines (read this for example).  But in an era of ‘fake news’, I’m even less of a fan of incorrect statements by doctors.   The drug database also ignores the ceiling effect of buprenorphine, and extrapolates the morphine equivalency of low doses of buprenorphine as if the dose response ‘curve’ was a straight line.  That ridiculous calculation leads the graph of opioid use to show buprenorphine patients as taking the equivalence of 900 mg of morphine per day.  The harm is minor I suppose by limitations on access to the database, but the error leads to misperceptions among doctors, and could po...
Source: Suboxone Talk Zone - Category: Addiction Authors: Tags: Benzos Buprenorphine pharmacology risks Suboxone tolerance buprenorphine and benzodiazepines suboxone overdose xanax and suboxone Source Type: blogs