New treatment center address opioid addiction

A medical campaign started in the late 1990s that promoted the idea of pain as a “fifth vital sign” sparked an era of over-prescribing narcotics, according to the director of a local treatment center.

The campaign put pressure on physicians to treat patients’ pain, said Derek Hollingworth, medical director of New Life Clinic in Kalispell. As a result, he said, the United States have seen a dramatic increase in drug-overdose deaths.

Deaths from prescription opioids — drugs such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone—have more than quadrupled since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The federal agency attributes the increase in painkiller prescribing as a key driver of the increase in prescription overdoses.

“There has been an unprecedented number of opioid prescriptions, to the point where the U.S. became the No. 1 user of opioids on the planet,” Hollingsworth said. “In fact, at one point we were prescribing more opioids in the United States than every other country combined.”

Now the pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction.

Physicians have started pushing back against policies that led to over-prescribing, and local communities are left trying to figure out how to treat people with pain pill and heroin addictions.

“Physicians were saying we aren’t going to prescribe any more, and some people who were addicted to the opioids went to the streets,” Hollingsworth said. “Now we are seeing a resurgence in heroin because people can’t get the opioids the way they used to.”

Prescription opioid pain medicines such as OxyContin® and Vicodin® have effects similar to heroin. Research suggests that misuse of these drugs may open the door to heroin use. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports nearly 80 percent of Americans using heroin first misused prescription opioids.

The highly addictive quality of opioids, along with the severe withdrawals symptoms users experience, make these drug addictions difficult to treat.

Representatives from the New Life Clinic, an outpatient drug-addiction treatment center that opened in April, said their method of counseling, combined with specific medications, can lead to an effective transition to a life without opioid addiction. Staff members said contrary to some opinions in the substance-abuse treatment industry, patients on opiate replacement medication do not have to be dependent on them for life.

“We don’t want to create a patient for life. Our primary goal is to get them off of all medications and get them back to a sober lifestyle,” said Ammon Stuart, the New Life Clinic director of operations.

The new Flathead Valley treatment clinic combines therapy to address the behavioral issues related to addiction with a drug called Suboxone that prevents withdrawal systems.

American Addiction Centers reports Suboxone cannot be taken to achieve a full opioid effect, so it’s harder to abuse than other forms of medication-assisted treatment, such as methadone.

Hollingsworth said the clinic prescribes the lowest dose of Suboxone possible to prevent patients from experiencing withdrawals, and slowly weens patients off the drug.

While clients are being weened off of the drugs, counselors work to address the underlying issues that contribute to addiction. A traumatic event, abuse or mental issues all can contribute to drug use, Stuart said.

“The counseling component is critical because so many people get into addiction because they are self-medicating,” Stuart said. “We need to lay a foundation so as they taper off the medication they aren’t going to be prone to jump back into a drug as soon as something difficult happens in their life.”

Another drug doctors at the New Life Clinic might prescribe is called Vivitrol. It is taken once a month to block the effects of opioids.

If someone decides to take pills or heroin while on Vivitrol, they won’t be able to feel the effects of the drug the same way, Hollingsworth said. This discourages someone from relapsing.

“If they relapse while they are on Vivitrol, nothing happens.” Hollingsworth said.

Although someone might not be able to feel the effects of opioids, they can still overdose from them. “It’s not a cure-all, but it’s a good tool,” Hollingsworth said.

The New Life Clinic does not prescribe Methadone, he noted.

According to the CDC, methadone accounts for only a few percent of opioid prescriptions, but is involved in one-third of related overdose deaths.

“It is arguably the most dangerous opioid on the planet,” Hollingsworth said. “We don’t feel the benefits outweigh the risks.”

While there is still no easy answer to combat the opioid epidemic, staff at the New Life Clinic said they can provide resources to help community members get back on track.

“We strive to be part of the solution and not part of the problem,” Stuart said.

The opioid epidemic is complex, but it is one the community should be working to address, the treatment providers said.

“It can effect and does effect all of us whether we recognize it or not, and it is going to take a community fix,” Hollingsworth said.

Reporter Breeana Laughlin can be reached at 758-4441 or blaughlin@dailyinterlake.com.