May 21, 2009

Incorporating Alcohol Pharmacotherapies Into Medical Practice: Treatment Improvement Protocol 49

The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released this Treatment Improvement Protocol to share current information about medications to help treat alcohol abuse. The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved four new medications: acamprosate, disulfiram, oral naltrexone, and extended-release injectable naltrexone. The four enable primary care practitioners to provide medication-assisted alcohol abuse treatment.

Many health problems or mental disorders that health care practitioners encounter in their everyday practices derive from or are complicated by alcohol use disorders (AUDs). To combat AUDs, health care practitioners are now able to utilize these four new medications as a direct intervention, in an attempt to increase the recovery rate of patients who may not yet have progressed to chronic alcohol dependence, those with comorbid medical disorders being treated in these settings, or those who otherwise would not seek or receive treatment for their AUDs. Interventions in primary care provide an opportunity to educate and motivate patients who are alcohol dependent and need long-term care to consider a specialty substance abuse treatment program.