The Opioid Fix: America's Addiction Crisis and the Solution They Don't Want You to Have

by Barbara Andraka-Christou

America's addiction crisis is growing worse. More than 115 Americans die daily from opioid overdoses, with half a million deaths expected in the next decade. Time and again, scientific studies show that medications like Suboxone and methadone are the most reliable and effective treatment, yet more than 60 percent of US addiction treatment centers fail to provide access to them.

In The Opioid Fix, Barbara Andraka-Christou highlights both the promise and the underuse of medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Addiction, Andraka-Christou writes, is a chronic medical condition. Why treat it, then, outside of mainstream medicine? Drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews with people in recovery, their family members, treatment providers, and policy makers, Andraka-Christou reveals a troubling landscape characterized by underregulated treatment centers and unnecessary ideological battles between twelve-step support groups and medication providers. The resistance to MAT--from physicians who won't prescribe it, to drug courts that prohibit it, to politicians who overregulate it--showcases the narrow-mindedness of the system and why it isn't working.

Recounting the true stories of people in recovery, this groundbreaking book argues that MAT needs to be available to anyone suffering from opioid addiction. Unlike other books about the opioid crisis, which have largely focused on causal factors like pharmaceutical overprescription and heroin trafficking, this book focuses on people who have already developed an opioid addiction but are struggling to find effective treatment. Validating the experience of hundreds of thousands of Americans, The Opioid Fix sounds a loud call for policy reforms that will help put lifesaving drugs into the hands of those who need them the most.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published April 21, 2020

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Positive Reassuring Book about Drug Addiction Rehabilitation

I found this book very positive about drug rehabilitation but of course the United States is doing it really badly. There are drugs that can help people with opioid addiction and help them manage it so they can live productive lives. The EU is showing the way and we could emulate them I’m many ways. The give financial incentives to people addicted to drugs to participate in drug rehab, they have universal healthcare and a law that requires that healthcare minimize harm called “harm reduction “ A government can’t make laws in healthcare that do more harm than good. Law enforcement is fatally used in drug cases and healthcare is available. Pharmacist don’t work in drug stores but on treatment teams and communicate with doctors on patients’ treatment. In the USA, more focus is put on abstinence rather than healthcare. Drug treatment programs often have low qualified healthcare professionals working with clients using non evidence based programs, 12 step programs are an example. Treatment programs often don’t do individual counseling because licenses, graduate or PhDs are required. Many centers use people with a bachelor’s, associates or even a high school diploma for group therapy. Often college students are used as interns. In US medical schools, there are rarely any lectures on addiction much less a full course. The pharmacists most people work with are random and nameless and work for a store, not with the doctor. Many people are imprisoned for drug addiction and many don’t babe healthcare. Admitting drug addiction can lead to job loss, losing custody of children and community shame. The worst country of any wealth is Russia which uses incarceration, shame and abstinence. Drug treatments for addiction are unlawful. Still. people have a constitutional right to healthcare, no matter how bad. Ukraine I found out, has suffered terribly in the Russian occupied areas as well as some Russian influenced countries in that they were using drug treatment similar to the EU and were forced to stop because of Russian pressure. So why do I say that the book is positive? If the USA really wants to turn drug addiction around, it could.

[Nancy Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's basic premise is that treating addiction with medicines like Suboxone and methadone should be recognized treatments for addictions today. Instead, they're scorned by the medical establishment, addiction support groups like Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous, and the general public as just another drug an addicted person turns to, enabling them to continue as an addict. As a result, the medications are difficult or impossible to get and addicted persons often turn to the streets to get it, or can't afford it if it is actually offered at a clinic or doctor's office, or lacking access to it altogether, they just continue in his or her addiction. often with fatal results.

The book is well researched and enlivened by personal stories; it's a good mix of scholarly research and actual case studies. You might not agree with the author that an addicted person should be able to obtain these prescription drugs just as easily as patients get heart or diabetes medication for their doctor, but she's made a good case for it.

But some doubt crept into my mind when the author quotes a woman named Christina saying that, "If you want to get clean, you can, but you have to try really hard because it almost feels like it's kind of rigged against you." So... life is hard and if you're looking to breeze through life without facing the hard parts, you're going to have to use something, whether it's drugs, yoga, prayer, meditation, running marathons or whatever. Perhaps medically-assisted addiction treatment just allows addicts to continue avoiding the hard stuff that life throws at them.

I was also surprised at how dated the book is. The author mentions Trump as just having started his term as president. There's no excuse for putting out a book that's outdated by four years at publication.

[Whitney Menarcheck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve worked with individuals with substance use disorder, including opioid use disorder for the past 11 years and know a great deal about MAT and I still learned something from The Opioid Fix. Dr. Andraka-Christou does a phenomenal job dismantling every myth and stigma associated with MAT. Her approach is through education, not force or critique. Everyone should read this book because everyone is impacted by OUD and the overdose epidemic in some way. At the very least, everyone who works with individuals with OUD in a professional manner, including judges, probation and parole officers, physicians, nurses, EVERYONE.

[Lauryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would not recommend to a someone unless they are very interested in learning about some basic concepts of addiction medicine (ie. Medications for opioid use disorder, different types of psychosocial treatment, court mandated treatment, etc). Reads like a research paper and uses some stigmatizing language. BUT, it warms my heart to see how much progress has been made in increasing access to treatment for patients with substance use disorders over the past 4 years (considering this book was published in 2020).

[Lydia VanOsdol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really important read about America’s mishandling of the opioid epidemic and the possibilities for treatment and recovery that are both compassionate and evidence-based that exist and would greatly benefit so many people struggling with Opioid Use Disorder! Highly recommend educating yourself on the topic as we don’t receive any education on this in the U.S.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely written to properly communicate. Even though the subject is difficult and discusses frustrating institutional and cultural stop gaps, I never felt hopeless reading this book. Challenges are identified with precision, as are possible solutions, both realistic and idealistic. This book makes change seem possible and will make you want to be a part of that.