b'u From Page 12Source: De Aquino JP, Parida S, Sofuoglu M. The Pharmacology of Buprenorphine Microinduction for Opioid Use Disorder. Clin Drug Investig. 2021 May;41(5):425-436. doi: 10.1007/s40261-021-01032-7. Epub 2021 Apr 5. PMID: 33818748; PMCID: PMC8020374.nationalepidemicandpublichealthemergencyhousing instability, mental health diagnoses, suicide, in October 2017 because of the increase in heroinand criminal justice involvement, they wrote.and fentanyl use and the dramatic jump in opioidThe study emphasized, The most effective treat-overdose deaths including among veterans. Opioidment for OUD are medications of three types: the overdoses claimed more than 47,000 victims in thefullopioidagonistmethadone,thepartialagonist U.S. from October 2018-19, the authors pointed outbuprenorphine,andtheantagonistnaltrexonein in Addiction, Science & Clinical Practice, and earlyextended-release injectable formulation (XR-NTX). data from 2020 signaled that overdose deaths contin- But relapse rates are high. The study cited several ued to rise during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2 reviewsindicatingthatbuprenorphineretentionat Theauthorsadvisedthatthenumberofveteranssix months is estimated at less than 40%. A review diagnosed with OUD and seeking VHA treatment roselast year reported retention rates falling from 58% at significantly in the past few years; a 131% increasesix months to 38.4% at three years.in OUD diagnoses was recorded from 2001 (27,840Theresearchteamhaddesignedtheirstudy, cases of OUD) to 2015 (64,373 cases), with 69,142Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder veteransdiagnosedwithOUDinfiscalyear2017,in Veterans (VA-BRAVE) a 52-week randomized jumping to more than 80,000 now. As in the generalcontrolledstudytocomparetheeffectivenessof population, OUD among veterans is associated withthe long-acting monthly injectable formulation of 14'