MAT Act Removes Barriers for Some Pharmacists to Help Patients with Substance Use Disorder
From American Pharmacists Association news release, published Dec. 22: The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) released the following statement regarding the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act (MAT Act, H.R. 1384/S. 445), part of the end-of-year omnibus spending package. “APhA is deeply grateful for the hard work and commitment of our membership who responded to our call to action for Congress to pass the MAT Act, a significant step forward to removing regulatory barriers that will help to improve patient access to buprenorphine, a life-saving medication for opioid use disorder treatment,” stated Ilisa Bernstein, PharmD, JD, FAPhA, interim executive vice president and CEO of APhA.
“On behalf of our members, we applaud Congress for making this important legislation a priority, a common-sense solution that removes restrictions on prescribers of buprenorphine, thus allowing certain pharmacists greater involvement in treating patients with opioid use disorder. This is a huge win for pharmacists and patients alike,” Bernstein concluded.