Community and Public Health Programs
Methadone and Buprenorphine Research
The treatment of opioid dependent clients often include methadone or buprenorphine maintenance. Ann B. Beeder, M.D., Interim Division Chief and Director of the Vincent P. Dole Research and Treatment Institute for Opiate Dependence, as well as other Division faculty and staff, are involved in research efforts to evaluate and refine the use of these substances in helping heroin-addicted patients. They are also investigating the use of buprenorphine to help some patients who have become addicted to prescription narcotic pain killers, whether these drugs were obtained legally or illegally.
Dr. Beeder is a co-investigator on a current grant from the Substance Abuse Policy Research Policy Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation titled "Cost-effectiveness of buprenorphine treatment for opioid dependence." Bruce Schackman, Ph.D., Chief of the Division of Health Policy, is the Principal Investigator. The objective is to develop and use a cost-effectiveness computer simulation model of opioid dependence treatment in the U.S. to evaluate buprenorphine maintenance treatment compared to methadone maintenance treatment and no treatment options, identify how costs and benefits are allocated among government or health insurance payers and patients, and determine the impact of regulatory barriers on cost-effectiveness results.
