美国国家公共电台 NPR--Addiction treatments in pharmacies could help combat the opioid crisis

Addiction¹ treatments in pharmacies² could help combat the opioid crisis

Transcript³

A small study shows pharmacists could play a key role in getting addiction medication directly into the hands of more people who need it. (Story aired on All Things Considered on Jan. 11, 2023.)

MEDICAL TREATMENTS

Offering addiction treatments in pharmacies could help combat the opioid crisis

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Medications can help people quit opioids, but fewer than 15% of patients who could benefit from those medications actually receive them. Researchers based at Rhode Island Hospital tested one possible remedy - offering addiction treatment in pharmacies. From member station WBUR, Martha Bebinger reports.

MARTHA BEBINGER, BYLINE⁴: Mike, a longtime heroin⁵ user, was waiting for a bus when he saw an ad for the study. We agreed not to use his full name because he has used illegal drugs. If Mike enrolled⁶ in the study, he could get free buprenorphine, brand name Suboxone, at a nearby pharmacy⁷. Mike was in recovery at the time, on buprenorphine, but somebody had stolen his supply.

MIKE: I was very gloomy. I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't want to go back on drugs. And I happened to see the sign. It was a godsend.

BEBINGER: Mike went right to the closest participating pharmacy and had a new buprenorphine prescription⁸ that day. Andrew Terranova, who manages the pharmacy where Mike went, says people often search for openings and wait hours, if not days, for a first treatment appointment.

ANDREW TERRANOVA: Patients were grateful that they were able to come in, meet with somebody that day and get seen.

BEBINGER: Terranova works for Genoa Health Care, a national pharmacy network often inside community mental health centers. For this study, Terranova and pharmacists in six high-overdose areas learned how to document a person's drug history and assess their state of withdrawal⁹. During the initial visit, Terranova would call a physician or nurse who could write a prescription. Treatment on demand may help explain why patients enrolled at pharmacies were 72% more likely to continue treatment for at least a month than were patients who went to more traditional treatment centers. The study's lead author, Traci Green, says it shows pharmacies are an effective way to expand addiction treatment.

TRACI GREEN: We need a lot more if we're going to try to turn the tide in the opioid crisis, so the pharmacists are at the ready.

BEBINGER: The National Association of Chain Drug Stores says community pharmacies are an untapped resource in the opioid crisis. But Dr. Margaret Jarvis, chief of addiction medicine at Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, says she isn't sure mainstream¹⁰ pharmacies are ready to offer addiction treatment along with flu shots or blood pressure checks. The main reason, says Jarvis, is stigma¹¹.

MARGARET JARVIS: It's everywhere - everywhere. There's not a place in our society - especially within the health care industry - where that doesn't exist.

BEBINGER: There are other reasons the study results could be hard to replicate¹². Jarvis says physicians may not want to hand over some authority to pharmacists. Pharmacies nationwide are short-staffed, and there's a funding dilemma¹³. Anne Burns with the American Pharmacists Association says, right now, there's no way to pay pharmacists for addiction counseling and care because they are not considered medical providers.

ANNE BURNS: There would have to be a payment model identified and to prioritize a service like this over some of the other activities that are going on in the pharmacy.

BEBINGER: But what could be more important than helping¹⁴ people avoid deadly street drugs, asks Mike? He remembers the cravings taking hold that day at the bus stop, before Mike turned and saw the ad for free buprenorphine.

MIKE: The alternative would have been fentanyl, which is a crapshoot. I've seen too many people die.

BEBINGER: Researchers are talking to the Genoa pharmacy chain about expanding this pilot as the U.S. sets new records for deaths after a drug overdose.

For NPR News, I'm Martha Bebinger in Boston.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

2 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

6 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

8 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

9 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

10 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

11 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

12 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

13 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。