Buprenorphine: A review

Abstract

A significant breakthrough in the treatment of opioid addiction occurred with the passage of the Data Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000),1 signed into law by President Clinton, which allowed physicians for the first time in more than eight decades to prescribe opioid medications for the treatment of opioid addiction in the normal course of their practice. Two years later, on October 8, 2002, Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) and Subutex (Buprenorphine) received FDA approval for the treatment of opioid addiction. Prior to DATA 2000, opioid maintenance treatment was available through highly regulated methadone clinics. This article discusses opioid addiction in the United States today and the principles of buprenorphine therapy.