Treatment of Opioid-Use Disorders

T his article provides an overview of the current treatment of opioid-related conditions, including treatments provided by general practitioners and by specialists in substance-use disorders. The recent dramatic increase in misuse of prescription analgesics, the easy accessibility of opioids such as heroin on the streets, and the epidemic of opioid overdoses underscore how important it is for physicians to understand more about these drugs and to be able to tell patients about available treatments for substance-use disorders.