Young people with opioid use disorder often don't receive medication-assisted treatment

Many young people with opioid use disorder aren’t receiving medication-assisted treatment, according to a new analysis of insurance claims for 13- to 22-year-olds in 2014 and 2015. Of the more than 4,900 young people with OUD, 69 percent received just behavioral health care. Only 24 percent received an FDA-approved medication — methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone — within three months. Patients taking medication were more likely to stay in treatment for a longer stretch than those who only received behavioral health care. The takeaway, according to the authors: "As deaths from overdose increase among U.S. youths, it is vital [to] ensure that access to evidence-based OUD medications for young people remains a national priority."