Methadone, bupernorphine and COVID-19, with Nicky Kalk and Caroline Copeland

Dr Nicky Kalk and Dr Caroline Copeland talk about their research into methadone- and buprenorphine-related deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nicky and Caroline talk me through the number of deaths they would expect to see in an average year and the differences between that and what happened during COVID-19-related lockdowns. Nicky tells us how the UK has influenced the US response to Hurricane Katrina whereby people were given larger amounts of opioid agonist medication than they were used to.“Instead of most people in early treatment being directly supervised consumption….the majority of people were converted to 2 weeks' worth of take-home supply.” Caroline and Nicky then talk about possible explanations for the overdose rates found among people not in treatment, indicating the protective impact that treatment can have for people. They also talk about how their study challenged their thinking about the impact of diversion on the risk of overdose. Finally, they talk about the overall impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on people seeking and accessing treatment.“There are things that make us sustain a behaviour and things that make us think that it’s time to make a change. And I suppose something as catastrophic as a lock-down with all the potential impacts that that might have on support or access to one's drug of choice, maybe changed the equation for people.”The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or the author’s academic institution.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.