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AATOD Letter to Secretary Burwell

Please see letter below sent to the Honorable Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from Mark  W. Parrino, AATOD President.

Burwell_Letter 8-13-14 | Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Weekly August 11 2014

Dear Secretary Burwell,

I am writing you pursuant to correspondence that you had received, dated June
26,2014 from five US Senators. They were discussing their concerns about
untreated opioid addiction in the United States, and indicated that the
Department might have the ability to raise the patient cap for DATA 2000
practices without Congressional authorization.

I understand that the Department will be considering a number of policymaking
initiatives in order to respond to the current public health crisis of untreated
opioid addiction in our country, including the use of buprenorphine products in
certified DATA 2000 practices and Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs). At the
present time, we have conducted a survey among the nation’s State Opioid
Treatment Authorities and AATOD member programs, concluding that
buprenorphine is an underutilized medication in the OTPs based on the lack of
reimbursement through third party payers.

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