|  | Conditions Treatments | Drug Addiction

Suboxone History

Suboxone, also known as buprenorphine, is a relatively new treatment for opiate addiction. It started out as a pain killer but became an alternative to Methadone treatment.

  1. Description

    • Suboxone is an artificial drug that is similar in chemical makeup to opiates such as heroin and morphine. Unlike those drugs, however, it doesn't get a user high.

    Early Use as Pain Reliever

    • Suboxone was initially marketed in the 1980s by Reckitt Benckiser, a British-based consumer health products company. It began as a pain reliever. In very small doses it was more effective than morphine in treating severe, chronic pain.

    Congress Acts

    • In 2000 the U.S. Congress passed the Drug Addiction Treatment Act, which made it legal for doctors to prescribe opioids to manage addiction.

    Approval for Addiction Treatment

    • October 2002 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Suboxone for addiction treatment. Later in 2006 it was approved for the same purpose in Europe. The first U.S. Suboxone-based addiction treatment program was launched in 2003 at Columbia University and boasted an 88% success rate.

    Alternative to Methodone

    • Suboxone has been an effective alternative to Methadone for addiction treatment. Methodone, which has been an important drug for treating heroin addiction since the 1960s, has sedative effects and can get a person high if taken in high doses. Suboxone does not have these effects, which makes patients on the drug less likely to become addicted to it. In 2008, Dr. Markus Helig, clinical director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism determined in a review of research that buprenorphine (Suboxone) is just as effective at treating heroin addiction as methadone, but with fewer safety risks and fewer deaths.

Drug Addiction - Related Articles