Dangerous Assertions About Opioid Treatment Must Stop!

While attending the Fed Up yearly International Overdose Awareness Day at the National Press Club on August 31, 2017 a couple of people made the following assertions: That opioid treatment regimens through Suboxone (Buprenorphine, Naxolone) and methadone are pushed by big pharma and are meant to keep patients addicted to drugs, causing additional deaths.

Mr. Michael Botticelli (the champion for opioid treatment advocacy and the respectable drug czar under president Obama who recently called for banning of strong opioid prescription by the FDA) called out the two participants, both of whom were emotionally involved in the subject due to their loss of loved ones, to stop such assertions and characterized them as very dangerous to the 33 million addicts who need help. Mr. Bottecelli said that the only deaths attributed to Methadone and opioid treatment drugs are due to overdoses and the choice is clear.

Do you want your loved ones to commit suicide via Heroin, Fentanyl, Oxycodone, or other opioid overdoses, or do you want them to live normal lives with an option to completely recover from opioid addiction? The whole panel, including Andrew Kolodny, MD, Gary Mendell, Caleb Alexander, MD, MS, Jay Butler, MD, Howard Haft, MD, all of whom are not in Big Pharma’s pockets and are openly against the drug companies pushing opioid prescriptions for minor issues, supported Mr. Botticelli’s call to stop unfounded assertions about Suboxone, Methadone and other treatment drugs.

The reality is that recovery has multiple aspects including family support, community support, counseling and treatment. BornFree Wellness Centers of America’s inspiration came from our dear friend Bob who saw many of his friends die due to drug overdoses. He founded many treatment centers in Florida and Maryland and helped many of his friends with past drug abuse. Bob's one focus was to provide a chance for addicts to live close to normal lives, avoid drug overdoses, keep jobs and families and relationships, and most importantly one day be completely drug free. BornFree Wellness Centers and our management with over a decade of non-profit social work experience believe in dignity for our patients and that is why you will NOT see long lines at 5am outside of BFWC. We want this treatment to be a similar to a need for insulin or any other prescription from a health provider.

With over 64,000 overdose deaths and most overdoses leading to death in Maryland, we believe it is high time for all support groups and family members to talk and communicate with their loved ones in need of treatment when they are sober, providing scenarios to show how drugs put their lives in dander, provide consistent support and encourage treatment and counselling and help remove the stigma from opioid addiction through advocacy and support. Count BFWCofA in this journey.