Addiction Is Not Dependence

Addiction Is Not Dependence – practicalpainmanagement.com – Aug 2019

In this editorial, Jennifer P. Schneider, MD, PhD, digs into a common—and frustrating—misunderstanding in pain medicine terminology.

FDA approved the buprenorphine implant, branded as Probuphine, in 2016 “for the maintenance treatment of opioid dependence.”

• Was it approved for the treatment of what we now call Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)?
• Or was the intent to approve it for physical dependence, a condition found in most opioid-treated chronic pain patients as well as opioid addicts?

It is not clear from the language.