Evidence supports naltrexone as alternative opioid addiction treatment

Findings from a multisite, randomized trial led by the University of Pennsylvania (PA, USA) and published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine have revealed that once-a-month naltrexone may be more effective in treating opioid addiction than current common treatment modalities. Currently, prevention of relapse in opioid addicts mainly involves administration of once-a-day methadone or suboxone, which are agonists of opioid receptors much like heroin. Concerns have been raised about their long-term advantages, with many believing that methadone purely provides a replacement addiction. Naltrexone, which is an opioid receptor antagonist, has therefore recently received increasing attention within the field,...