title: Just call it "treatment".
abstract: Although many in the addiction treatment field use the term "medication-assisted treatment" to describe a combination of pharmacotherapy and counseling to address substance dependence, research has demonstrated that opioid agonist treatment alone is effective in patients with opioid dependence, regardless of whether they receive counseling. The time has come to call pharmacotherapy for such patients just "treatment". An explicit acknowledgment that medication is an essential first-line component in the successful management of opioid dependence.
authors.affiliation: Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. pfriedmann@lifespan.org
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Friedmann
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Schwartz
mesh_terms: D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D002047:Buprenorphine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000069479:Buprenorphine, Naloxone Drug Combination; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008691:Methadone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009270:Naloxone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D058850:Opiate Substitution Treatment / Q000379:methods*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D000069479:Buprenorphine, Naloxone Drug Combination; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D009270:Naloxone; D002047:Buprenorphine; D008691:Methadone