Patient perceptions of and experiences with stigma using telehealth for opioid use disorder treatment: a qualitative analysis.

Background: Patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) experience various forms of stigma at the individual, public, and structural levels that can affect how they access and engage with healthcare, particularly with medications for OUD treatment. Telehealth is a relatively new form of care delivery for OUD treatment. As reducing stigma surrounding OUD treatment is critical to address ongoing gaps in care, the aim of this study was to explore how telehealth impacts patient experiences of stigma.

Five Key Articles on Curriculum Development for Graduate Medical Educators.

Curriculum development is an essential domain for medical educators, yet specific training in this area is inconsistent. With competing demands for educators' time, a succinct resource for best practice is needed. To create a curated list of the most essential articles on curriculum development to guide education scholars in graduate medical education.

Advocacy for Equity Around Evidence-Based Treatments: Overview and Proceedings of the AMERSA 2023 Conference.

This commentary provides an overview of the 2023 Association of Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance use and Addiction (AMERSA) annual conference: Advocacy for Equity Around Evidence-Based Treatments, held from November 1 to 4, 2023, in Washington, DC. The conference featured 9 interactive workshops, 106 oral abstract presentations, and 130 posters. From the preconference workshop to plenary sessions, paper, and poster presentations, there was a focus on addressing imbalanced social systems and structures underlying disparities.

Novel Therapeutic and Program-Based Approaches to Opioid Use Disorders.

Opioid use disorder continues to drive overdose deaths in many countries, including the United States. Illicit fentanyl and its analogues have emerged as key contributors to the complications and mortality associated with opioid use disorder. Medications for opioid use disorder treatment, such as methadone and buprenorphine, are safe and substantially reduce opioid use, infectious complications, and mortality risk, but remain underutilized.

A qualitative study of patient experiences with telemedicine opioid use disorder treatment during COVID-19.

The drug-related overdose crisis worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent drug policy changes to increase access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) during COVID-19 shifted some outpatient MOUD treatment into virtual settings to reduce the demand for in-person care. The objective of this study was to qualitatively explore what is gained and lost in virtual patient encounters for patients with opioid use disorder at a low-threshold, addiction treatment clinic that offers buprenorphine and harm reduction services.

Low-Threshold Buprenorphine via Community Partnerships and Telemedicine-Case Reports of Expanding Access to Addiction Treatment During COVID-19.

Background: To reduce coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread, federal agencies eased telemedicine restrictions including audio-only appointments. These changes permitted clinicians to prescribe buprenorphine to patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) without in-person or audio/video assessment. Our clinic utilized existing community collaborations to implement protocols and extend outreach.

Effectiveness of and Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder for Adolescents and Young Adults: A Scoping Review.

Objective: A scoping review assessed access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and treatment outcomes among adolescents (12 - 17 years) and young adults (18 - 25 years).

Methods: Studies addressing adolescent and young adult opioid use disorder and treatment with MOUD on patient outcomes (eg, retention in care) were included. Randomized trials and controlled observational studies were prioritized.

Low-barrier buprenorphine during the COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid transition to on-demand telemedicine with wide-ranging effects.

Low barrier addiction clinics increase access to medications to treat substance use disorders, while emphasizing harm reduction. The Harm Reduction and BRidges to Care (HRBR) Clinic is an on demand, low barrier addiction clinic that opened in October 2019. In the first three months of operation (November through January 2020), HRBR saw steadily increasing numbers of patients.

"Opening the door to somebody who has a chance." - The experiences and perceptions of public safety personnel towards a public restroom overdose prevention alarm system.

Background: Opioid overdose deaths have surged due to fentanyl in the illicit opioid supply, which causes overdose more rapidly than other opioids. Public restrooms are venues where fentanyl overdoses commonly occur. In response, some organizations have implemented anti-motion alarm systems as a prevention approach.

Ambulatory microdose induction of buprenorphine-naloxone in two adolescent patients with sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hematologic disorder defined by presence of sickle-shaped red blood cells that can occlude blood vessels and cause tissue ischemia and pain. Treating SCD pain adequately and safely is difficult given today's opioid climate. Buprenorphine-naloxone has been described as an alternative option to treat chronic pain in the adult literature; however, it historically required discontinuation of full-agonist opioids before initiation, resulting in opioid withdrawal.

Antifungal activity of tamoxifen: in vitro and in vivo activities and mechanistic characterization.

Tamoxifen (TAM), an estrogen receptor antagonist used primarily to treat breast cancer, has well-recognized antifungal properties, but the activity of TAM has not been fully characterized using standardized (i.e., CLSI) in vitro susceptibility testing, nor has it been demonstrated in an in vivo model of fungal infection.