Just a small fraction of adolescents with opioid addiction will receive medications that can help them quit, new research shows.
These medications, usually methadone or suboxone, are prescribed to reduce craving for opiates and ease withdrawal symptoms, and studies show they help opiate users to abstain. In 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised doctors to consider medication-assisted treatment, specifically suboxone, for adolescents with “severe opioid use disorders.”
