Buprenorphine Proves Promising for Heroin Addiction

Buprenorphine, a new drug being used to treat heroin addicts instead of methadone, is showing signs of working better than any past treatment and some professionals believe it will drastically change recovery rates.

Although Buprenorphine can be addictive, just like methadone, it has many advantages, including less side effects, milder withdrawal symptom, more easily obtained, and available in supplies, instead of one dose at a time.

"My hope and my expectation is that buprenorphine will revolutionize heroin treatment in the United States," Dr. Herbert D. Kleber, a professor at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, told the New York Times. But others aren't ready to give the treatment such high ratings.

"Buprenorphine is no panacea," said Dr. Lawrence Brown Jr., president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and an associate professor at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. "But it is a fantastic opportunity for us. We need to encourage more physicians who are outside addiction medicine to take up this treatment."

The Times article featured Alex's Story of trying for years to treat his addiction with methadone, but finding better results with the new treatment.

More: More About Buprenorphine | Heroin FAQs