Pregnant women likely to face barriers accessing opioid use disorder treatment

A 'secret shopper'-style study revealed that pregnant women are likely to face difficulty accessing treatment for opioid use disorder, even though treatment with buprenorphine and methadone could not only curb substance use but could also reduce the risk of preterm birth. In the study, researchers made 11,000 appointment requests for women to more than 6,300 clinicians. Those who were said to be pregnant were 17% less likely to be granted an appointment with a physician authorized to provide treatment with buprenorphine than those who weren't. One-third of opioid treatment programs granted appointments only when the patients agreed to pay cash, as did around 1 in 4 physicians with licenses to provide buprenorphine. One possible explanation: Only 1% of women's health physicians and 4% of family physicians are licensed to provide buprenorphine, which could disadvantage patients seeking help from these doctors.