Buprenorphine

Despite the advances in treatment and prevention, roughly 50,000 new HIV infections still occur annually in the Nation. Research, in large part supported by NIDA, has produced a strategy to address this circumstance and break the epidemiological impasse: seek out HIV-infected individuals, particularly those in “hard-to-reach” groups that have minimal contact with the health care system; offer them HIV testing and treatment; and provide support to help them stay in treatment.

Presents highlights of a study suggesting that compared with methadone, office-based buprenorphine treatment attracts individuals who have less extensive addiction histories.

Reports on a study of adolescents addicted to opioids who responded better to buprenorphine than clonidine in a clinical trial in which all patients also received behavioral therapy.