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Long-Term Implants: A New Tool In The Treatment Of Opiate Addiction

LYNNE MCCREA / VPR
As part of the certification process, Vermont medical professionals practice inserting the implant into raw pork tenderloin, to get the feel for what an insertion into human flesh would be like.

Doctors in Vermont and across the country are being introduced to a new tool for treating opioid addiction. It’s an implant: four tiny plastic rods, inserted into a patient’s arm, deliver a steady dose of buprenorphine. 

The drug counters the craving for heroin or other opioids.

 

Dr. Patti Fisher of the University of Vermont Medical Center is one of many doctors across Vermont working to address the opioid crisis.

She says she thinks the implant is a great idea.

“This is going to be much easier for providers, and much easier for patients,” Fisher says.

Read more of this story at Vermont Public Radio.