Methadone maintenance treatment among patients exposed to illicit fentanyl in Rhode Island: Safety, dose, retention, and relapse at 6 months

Illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) is a potent synthetic opioid that has been contributing to overdose deaths in the United States in recent years (O ’Donnell et al., 2017; Rudd et al., 2016; Somerville et al., 2017). In many areas of the U.S., it has recently become the most commonly found illicit opioid (DEA, 2018). In parts of the northeast U.S., many users are uncertain of the extent of heroin adulterated with fentanyl (Ciccarone et al., 20 17). Yet, fentanyl was seen in over 85% of urine toxicology for those seeking opioid withdrawal management in Massachusetts many users remain unaware (Kenney et al., 2018).

Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence - August 25, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Andrew C. Stone, Jennifer J. Carroll, Josiah D. Rich, Traci C. Green Tags: Short communication Source Type: research