We are pleased to see Congress pass the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act for signature into law by President Biden, and grateful for advocates and lawmakers for their leadership in passing this life-saving legislation, including Representatives Paul Tonko and Mike Turner and Senators Maggie Hassan and Lisa Murkowski.
This law will help bring opioid use disorder (OUD) and its evidence-based treatment into the mainstream of health care by allowing OUD to be treated like any other chronic disease. In clinical, community, and criminal justice settings, it will help replace stigma with hope and recovery. More specifically, the provision eliminating the Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA) waiver will allow more health care professionals to treat OUD patients with buprenorphine, while a national educational campaign will help foster integration of addiction treatment into everyday practice, creating the potential to save more lives.
While these provisions will soon become law, implementation will take time. We are committed to ensuring that evidence-based treatment is widely available to aid the long-term recovery of people affected by OUD and to do everything we can to help end the opioid crisis.
Terry Horton, MD, FACP, FASAM, is Vice President, Patient Insights & Advocacy, for Indivior
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