Alaska Methadone Clinics



Alaska Methadone Clinics
Anchorage Comprehensive Treatment Center 3230 C St, Suite 100 Anchorage (907) 885-6537
Narcotic Drug Treatment Center, Inc. 520 East Fourth Ave., Suite 102 Anchorage (907) 276-6430
WCHS, Inc., dba: Anchorage Treatment Solutions 121 W. Fireweed Lane, Ste 105 Anchorage (844) 490-6533
Project Special Delivery 710 Third Ave. Fairbanks (907) 452-4222
Zipperer Medical Group 300 West Swanson Avenue Wasilla (907) 376-5228
 

Alaska has its methadone clinics and (buprenorphine) suboxone doctors concentrated mostly in and around its metropolitan urban centers. With the recent rise in opioid addiction problems across the United States, more medical providers are preparing themselves to assist people suffering with moderate to severe opioid dependency. While some individuals are able to detox successfully from opioids under supervised care, many discover that medication-assisted treatment is necessary to help them either avoid painful opioid withdrawal or to facilitate their journey into long term recovery. Methadone and (buprenorphine) suboxone are the two most popular & effective medication-assisted therapies available for opiate addicted persons. Both medications are FDA-approved, SAMHSA endorsed, and have been successfully utilized in treating opioid addiction for more than a decade. With methadone in particular, its success profile dates back to over 40 years in the United States.




 

Federal Rules For Methadone Access Are Changing

The synthetic opioid, fentanyl, has led to an increase in overdose deaths in recent years. As many as 112,000 in the last year according to NPR. As a result, some physicians are pushing to make methadone more available to those who need it.

The Biden administration has created new federal rules for methadone treatment designed to widen access for more patients. In particular, the requirement of one year of active opioid addiction is being reduced to just 6 months of opioid addiction in order to become eligible to receive methadone.

There are about 2000 federally-approved opioid treatment programs (OTP) in the United States. Many thousands of patients are receiving life saving services from these clinics. Since COVID, many OTP clinics have made take home medication more accessible to those in early phases of treatment.

With illegal opiates still flooding the country, increasing access to opioid treatment and medication is easily justified. The question remains as to how local law enforcement can ultimately stem the flow of drugs into the community, as well as how youth can be educated to avoid risking first drug use.

Posted in Buprenorphine, Harm Reduction, Methadone, Methadone Clinics, Methadone Take Home, Opioid Treatment, Prescription Drugs, Suboxone | Tagged , | Comments Off on Federal Rules For Methadone Access Are Changing

How Bad Is Opioid Withdrawal

There is an informative video by Sarah Wakeman on the physical and psychological perils of severe opioid withdrawal. Sarah is a Medical Director at Mass General Brigham. They are an integrated health care system that conduct medical research, teaching, and patient care.

In the video, Sarah explains how opioid withdrawal can become so severe with diarrhea and vomiting that individuals can die from extensive dehydration. As physicial dependency progresses, the brain becomes increasingly imbalanced and unable to function without the presence of opioids.

When opioid withdrawal commences (usually 8-12 hours after last use), it becomes increasingly unbearable as the body is flushed with stress hormones. The withdrawal discomfort builds in intensity over days, and can last up to a week or more. For many, this withdrawal process feels akin to a severe case of the flu, but then potentially reaches levels of sickness even far beyond that.

In the video, Sarah goes on to discuss the benefits of methadone and buprenorphine in reducing severe withdrawal symptoms and in helping patients to ultimately not die from overdose. She also illuminates on how rational decision-making is so extremely difficult when struggling against the intense pain of opioid withdrawal.

Please check this video out, and share it with anyone you believe can benefit from its message.

Posted in Buprenorphine, Medication Assisted Treatment, Methadone, Methadone Clinics, Opiate Withdrawal, Opioid Treatment, Pain Management, Prescription Drugs, Suboxone | Tagged | Comments Off on How Bad Is Opioid Withdrawal

Helping Skeptics Understand Methadone

When it comes to addiction, reactions and opinions are often intense. Addiction is a devastating illness that can rapidly derail a person’s life, and seriously impact the lives of those around them.

Sadly, addiction leads people to behave in ways that make no sense to their family, friends, and co-workers. Therein lies an important part of the problem. Family feel confused, angry, and fearful as their loved one tumbles down the hill of active addiction.

When it comes to something as perplexing as drug addiction, grasping for answers is an understandable reflex for family and friends. What family often don’t comprehend is the power of physical dependency to opioids and the severe sickness that results from opioid withdrawal.

Family and others incorrectly assume that mere “choice” is all that’s needed to overcome the addiction. When the addict fails to remain drug free, harsh judgment by others usually follows.

Halting withdrawal sickness is a paramount step for an opioid addicted person. This cannot be overstated. As long as a person is suffering from severe opioid withdrawal, their ability to think and “choose” logically is greatly impaired.

Statistically, individuals who utilize medication-assisted treatment (like methadone) are far more likely to avoid incarceration, a continued downward spiral, or death by overdose. Medication assistance successfully removes debilitating withdrawal sickness so that the addicted person can experience greater clarity of thought and the ability to make more sound decisions that lead to improved quality of life.

If you are a skeptic about methadone or suboxone, you may think “they’re just trading one drug for another”. This is not true. People, once therapeutically stabilized on methadone or suboxone, do not get high from the medication. Health generally improves, and the person is able to function much better on the job and at home. This brings hope. It offers a new opportunity for further recovery.

When you care about a person’s survival, one more chance to help them can be quite valuable. Don’t let judgment or excessive skepticism get in the way. Medication-assistance in opioid recovery is effective for many people, and it has been the life saving next step that some never got the chance to take.

Posted in Methadone, Methadone Benefits, Methadone Clinics, Recovery, Suboxone | Tagged | Comments Off on Helping Skeptics Understand Methadone

Methadone Treatment in Oregon

Like most states, Oregon is in need of quality treatment options for opioid-addicted individuals who are ready for recovery.

This article, in the Hillsboro News-Times, features the recent approval by Washington County commissioners to add a new methadone clinic in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Acadia Healthcare is aiming to establish the new methadone clinic in Hillsboro in order to better serve the local community. Acadia already operate a mobile unit in the general area as well as a comprehensive treatment center (CTC) in nearby Tigard located about 20 miles away.

The commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the proposed site which will be on the local bus route thereby providing improved access. The article mentions that Oregon presently has 17 operational methadone clinics serving the state, where fentanyl, opiates, and other substances are causing a grave overdose crisis.

Having local opioid treatment available is a critically important step in saving lives and providing hope to patients and families. Methadone has been proven to decrease opioid use, reduce relapse risks & overdose deaths, as well as increase employment and overall health. Clinics offering medication-assisted treatment (MAT), like methadone and buprenorphine, are forging a new path to safety for those people once stuck in active addiction.

Posted in Acadia Healthcare, Addiction Treatment, Buprenorphine, Methadone, Methadone Clinics, Oregon Methadone Clinics, Suboxone | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Methadone Treatment in Oregon

Remote Observation of Methadone Dosing

There’s a new spin being proposed on the dispensing of methadone to Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) patients. A federally-funded project is underway between Scene Health and The University of Washington in which patients video themselves taking their daily methadone dose, and then submit that video to the treatment provider.

The project is evaluating this new modified approach that falls somewhere between in-person daily dosing and unsupervised take home dosing.

This new approach is currently being referred to as Video DOT (video direct observation therapy) and has been successfully implemented with other health issues including hepatitis C, asthma, and diabetes.

While this experiment seems appealing at first glance, it does raise legitimate questions about the ability to insure proper safety protocols with the provision of methadone medication to new patients. The project may possibly demonstrate the usefulness of Video DOT methadone dosing. But assuming this new approach one day becomes common practice, it will be important that physicians or clinics have in place a procedure for quickly reclaiming methadone doses that are not ingested on schedule.

Imagine a new patient receives 7 take home doses of methadone, but then only sends in the required video of their medication use on day one. At what point does the prescribing clinic intervene, and how will the unaccounted for doses be retrieved?

Approved Opioid Treatment Programs currently have “callback” procedures in which stable patients are randomly selected to return to their home clinic with their unused take home doses. This allows the clinic medical staff to perform a medication count, and it acts as a safeguard to insure patients are taking their medication as prescribed.

Patients who have earned take home privileges through months of treatment progress are less inclined to divert or misuse methadone than someone who just started treatment. New patients must be inducted gradually on a stabilizing dose of methadone. And time is typically needed to help these patients adjust to methadone while eliminating use of all other illicit substances. This is where the benefit of a structured treatment program is most relevant. OTP’s provide extremely valuable life management skills training in conjunction with medication therapy.

It remains to be seen if “easy access” to methadone is truly an advancement in care, or a step backwards in accountability & safety for patients and the public.

Posted in Medication Assisted Treatment, Methadone, Methadone Clinics, Methadone Programs, Suboxone, Suboxone Clinics | Tagged | Comments Off on Remote Observation of Methadone Dosing
Alaska Suboxone Doctors


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Alaska Buprenorphine Suboxone Doctors
David Allen Brauner, D.O. 121 West Fireweed Lane
Anchorage, AK 99503
(907) 865-9653
Joseph V. Pace, Jr., M.D. 1201 North Muldoon Drive
Anchorage, AK 99504
(907) 257-4841
Michel Gevaert, M.D. 3801 University Lake Drive
Suite 300
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 563-8876
Saughar Samali, D.O. 4320 Diplomacy Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 129-3348
Melissa Grace Shein, M.D. 4320 Diplomacy Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 729-8993
Tamara E. Pickett, M.D. 4320 Diplomacy Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 729-4391
Mark Thomas Erickson, M.D. Southcentral Foundation
4201 Tudor Center Drive, Suite 315
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 729-6378
David Martin James, M.D. 4320 Diplomacy Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 729-0330×0
Derek Andrew Hagen, D.O. 4100 Lake Otis Parkway
Suite 216
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 563-2873
Paula J. Colescott, M.D. Providence Breakthrough
3760 Piper Street, Suite 1108
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 212-6970
Martha Jane Moore, M.D. 3820 Lake Otis Parkway
Suite 108
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 644-6268
Alfred Roland Lonser, M.D. AA Pain
4100 Lake Otis Parkway, Suite 216
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 563-2873
Frederick William Houts, M.D. Alaska Psychiatric Institute
3700 Piper St.
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 269-7150
Lucy Ljubicich Curtiss, M.D. VA
2925 DeBarr Road
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 257-4854
Aryeh Leib Levenson, M.D. South Central Foundation
4501 Diplomacy Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 729-2500
Kerry Jae Ozer, M.D. Alaska Native Medical Center
4320 Diplomacy Drive – MH
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 729-2500
Steven Johnson, M.D. 4100 Lake Otis Parkway
Unit #216
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 563-2873
Alex C. Orten, M.D. 4320 Diplomacy Drive
Suite 1500
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 729-2500
Timothy D. Coalwell, M.D. Medical Park Family Care
2211 East Northern Lights Boulveard
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 279-8486
Darren Blaine Lewis, M.D. 2211 East Northern Lights Boulevard
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 279-8486
Charles Michael Herndon, M.D., M.A. Providence Breakthrough
3760 Piper Street, Suite 1108
Anchorage, AK 99508-4683
(907) 212-6970
Daniel A. Smith, M.D. YKHC, 580 Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway
P.O. Box 287
Bethel, AK 99559
(907) 543-6454
Kimberly B. Whitaker, M.D. 580 Cheif Eddie Hoffman Highway
Bethel, AK 99559
(907) 543-6300
Heath Bartom McAnally, M.D. 12103 Horseshoe Drive
Eagle River, AK 99577
(907) 622-7246
Christine Leigh Goddard, M.D. 16600 Centerfield Drive
Suite 203
Eagle River, AK 99577
(907) 694-5550
Edward William Zeff, M.D. Discovery Cove Wellness and Recovery Ctr
16600 Centerfield Drive, Suite 205
Eagle River, AK 99577
(907) 694-5550
Milton J. Wright, D.O. 1001 Noble Street
Fairbanks, AK 99701
(907) 459-3500
Samantha Lynn Brandon, M.D. 1060 Gaffney Road
Fort Wainwright, AK 99703
(907) 361-5919
Mitchell Croft Marzo, M.D. Attn: Internal Medicine Clinic
1060 Gaffney Road
Fort Wainwright, AK 99703-7400
(907) 361-5858
Patrick D. Brady, M.D. 4201 Bartlett Street
Suite 202
Homer, AK 99603
(907) 399-3204
Aric Brian Ludwig, M.D. Bartlett Regional Hospital
3260 Hospital Drive
Juneau, AK 99801
(907) 796-8427
Lindy M. Jones, M.D. 1801 Salmon Creek Lane
Juneau, AK 99801
(907) 586-2434
Paul Jiri Topol, M.D. 2 Marine Way
Suite 204
Juneau, AK 99801
(907) 209-8962
Michael Edward Merrick, M.D. 416 Frontage Road
Suite 400
Kenai, AK 99611
(907) 283-5487
Wynelle Snow, M.D. 21 Jefferson Way
Suite 201 A
Ketchikan, AK 99901
(907) 220-9948
Edward William Zeff, M.D. Discovery Cove Wellness and Recovery Ctr
2975 Mill Bay Road, Suite B
Kodiak, AK 99615
(907) 654-7719
Karen O'Neill, M.D. Norton Sound Regional Hospital
P.O. Box 966
Nome, AK 99762
(907) 443-3311
Julius Pepper Goslin, D.O. Norton Sound Healh Corporation
PO BOX 966, 306 West 5th Avenue
Nome, AK 99762-0966
(907) 443-3311
Jeffrey James Copeland, M.D. 2250 Woodworth Loop
Suite 1100
Palmer, AK 99645
(907) 761-5900
Kristofor Austin Sargent, M.D. Petersburg Medical Center
103 Fram Street
Petersburg, AK 99833
(907) 772-4299
Jennifer E. Hyer, M.D. Petersburg Medical Center
103 Fram Street, P.O. Box 589
Petersburg, AK 99833
(907) 772-4299
Alice Lynn Hulebak, M.D. 103 Fram Street
Petersburg, AK 99833
(907) 772-4299
Brian Abbott, D.O. P.O. Box 365
Seward, AK 99664
(907) 224-8060
Robert Carl Hunter, Jr., M.D. 700 Katlian Street
Suite E
Sitka, AK 99835
(907) 747-5861
Graham Timothy Chelius 700 Katlian Street
Suite E
Sitka, AK 99835
(907) 747-5861
John Nels Anderson, M.D. 265 Binkley
Soldotna, AK 99669
(907) 262-4161
Joan Blum Friderici, M.D. Sunshine Community Health Center
HC 89 Box 8190
Talkeetna, AK 99676
(907) 733-2273
Maria Lindsey Freeman, M.D. 300 West Swanson Avenue
Wasilla, AK 99654
(907) 376-5228
John Douglas Zipperer, Jr., M.D. 300 West Swanson Avenue
Wasilla, AK 99654
(907) 376-5228
Greg Salard, M.D. Tideline Clinic
P.O. Box 1231, 320 Bennett Street
Wrangell, AK 99929
(907) 874-4700