Opiate Dependence Treatment with Buprenorphine

Buprenorphine became available for office-based treatment of opiate dependence in January 2003, at which time the Underwood-Memorial Hospital Family Practice Residency Program began offering buprenorphine treatment at its family practice center. This article describes the patient selection process, outcomes, and obstacles to treatment. Patients who had a pharmaceutical benefit were much more likely to remain in treatment than those who had to pay for the medication. The authors are not aware of other residency programs currently providing buprenorphine training, and postulate reasons why family physicians in the United States have not readily adopted the office-based opiate treatment model.