Questions in The Addiction Medicine Forum are being answered by Steven Adelman, M.D. and other physicians and clinicians who practice at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates in Greater Boston.
Opiate addiction is a disease much like diabetes.
A person takes insulin to maintain proper levels of sugar in their bodies. A heart patient takes digoxin to maintain proper heart functioning. An opiate addict may take LAAM or methadone to restore an imbalance in their brains due to the disease of opiate addiction. New regulations would allow personal physicians to treat opiate addiction in the privacy of their office. This would allow methadone patients adequate medical treatment and have the same degree of personal care that a diabetic or heart patient maintains.