Accelerate the Development of New MAT/MAR Approaches

Introductory Paragraph

The role of medications in helping people with Substance Use Disorders is significant. It is logical to think that all the potential options of Medication-Assisted Treatments (MAT) have not yet been discovered and researched. Rather than just limit our thinking to those that have been discovered and researched, a comprehensive strategy should include efforts to expand innovation and research to add new MAT options to the toolkit for helping people.

FDA is loosening the standards to speed the development of new practices to the market.

Key Information

Please capture a deeper dive of the content in this section, to include any relevant subtopics or important things happening in the field the reader should be situationally aware of right now. You may have multiple paragraphs here with subtitles, if needed. While are not the experts and do not need to write out every detail about the subtopic like a research paper, we should make an attempt to fully capture the landscape of important things to know and link to any external information that may be helpful if the reader wants to learn more information.

Relevant Research

In this section, please capture any recent findings, reports, or data on the topic. Please also highlight any gaps or existing disparities. Please include references and links to the information so that we may add a footnote for the reader to find further information. Do we have any available research about discriminatory practices? Is there information about the value of access to educational opportunities?

Impactful Federal, State, and Local Policies

Please list any federal, state, or local laws, policies, or regulations that support this topic or ones that could be a possible barrier. Are there laws or policies other states should know about and replicate for success?

Available Tools and Resources

Oftentimes, there are already great resources in the field that have been developed, but they are not housed in a single place. Please use this section to share information about those resources and drive the reader to that resource. It may be a worksheet, toolkit, fact sheet, framework/model, infographic, new technology, etc. I suggest no more than 5 really good links and a corresponding description for the reader. We also can use this section to highlight some of the great resources and programs at SAFE Project.

Promising Options for New Approaches

The Sinclair Method

The Sinclair Method has shown significant success in helping people achieve long-lasting success over alcoholism. This approach focuses on retraining the brain to reduce or eliminate the cravings that people have by having them take Naltrexone before drinking so their brain learns that alcohol no longer provides the effect it previously did, and the cravings dissipate. The Sinclair Method has been very effective in helping people recover from alcoholism (with claims up 80% success rates), and it is the standard approach to treating alcoholism in Finland. More information is needed on whether this approach has been shown to be effective in helping people with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). The 3-C Foundation provides resources on this approach for dealing with alcoholism.

One topic that needs research but could be very powerful is to use an approach similar to the Sinclair Method that seems to have a high track record of success to help break people's cravings for opioid drugs. Here are some articles on the Sinclair Method as a way to treat alcohol addiction.
  
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https://addictionthenextstep.com/blog/new-vancouver-based-companys-innovative-approach-makes-treatment-naltrexone-available-every-canadian-battling-alcohol-problem/] [4] 
https://contral.com/?lang=en [5]
http://www.sinclairmethod.com/index_files/Page399.htm [6]

 

Universities

Specific universities and colleges have centers and professors that focus on research in the area of addiction and treatment

 

• University of Michigan Addiction Center (UMAC)
• University of Virginia: Center for Leading Edge Addiction Research

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