Urge Congress to Improve Access to Lifesaving Treatment

ACEP 911 Grassroots Network Action Alert:

We need your help to urge Congress to swiftly take up and pass critical legislation that will help increase access for emergency physicians to buprenorphine, lifesaving medication to help OUD patients and decrease the stigma associated with treatment.

Last year, more than 100,000 Americans died of a drug overdose. And today, millions more are still at significant risk of death because of a lack of access to lifesaving treatment. Unfortunately, stigma and outdated federal laws have continued to limit access to evidence-based, lifesaving treatment with buprenorphine as a part of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) protocols.

Buprenorphine is not a cure, but a very effective tool. It cuts the risk of overdose in half, and initiating MAT such as buprenorphine in the ED helps individuals stay in treatment longer, and can reduce illicit opioid use and infectious disease transmission, when compared to treatment started after patients are discharged from the ED. Research suggests that the sooner we can start patients on the right path and keep them engaged in recovery, the more successful their recovery can be.

But despite its safety and effectiveness, there remain significant barriers to the use of buprenorphine, the greatest of which is the so-called “X-waiver” requirement mandated by the Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA) of 2000. The X-waiver process necessitates the completion of between eight to 24 hours of additional training – which is not required for ANY other prescribed medication – and the registration process through the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for this special waiver can take up to several months. These outdated federal restrictions, unfortunately, perpetuate the stigma that remains associated with these treatments and lead most health care providers to avoid prescribing buprenorphine to patients with OUD. As a result, the treatment of OUD remains unnecessarily isolated from normal health care delivery.

The bipartisan, bicameral “Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act” (H.R. 1384/S. 445) will help increase access to buprenorphine by removing outdated federal requirements for a separate waiver to dispense buprenorphine, allowing all health care practitioners with a standard controlled medication license to prescribe buprenorphine for OUD. This bill has nearly 240 bipartisan cosponsors – an incredibly strong show of support – but we need your help to urge your legislators to bring this legislation up for a vote and enact it into law now.
Please contact your legislators to urge their support for the MAT Act and push for its swift consideration and successful passage.

Click here to go to the ACEP Advocacy Action Center and send your message.