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Despite Progress, Buprenorphine Use in US Correctional Settings Falling Short
Between June 2016 and May 2021, buprenorphine use in correctional settings increased 224-fold in the United States, according to a study published online by JAMA Network Open.
“This increase in buprenorphine use represents progress, albeit incomplete, toward improving access to opioid use disorder treatment for incarcerated individuals,” wrote researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
Among the 1.8 million people incarcerated in the United States, an estimated 15% have opioid use disorder. While such individuals have a substantially heightened risk of overdose after release, pharmacotherapy is associated with reductions in postincarceration mortality. The study investigated the effect of recent policies aiming to increase access to buprenorphine treatment in jails and prisons.
In June 2016, the daily mean number of people in correctional settings receiving buprenorphine treatment was 44. By May 2021, the daily mean grew to 9841 individuals, the study found. The majority of the growth, researchers noted, occurred in 2020 and 2021.
Despite the substantial increase, buprenorphine treatment is still rare among individuals with opioid use disorder during incarceration. Of the 270,000 people in US correctional settings with opioid use disorder, a mere 3.6% received buprenorphine in May 2021, according to the study. Just 1.5% of all buprenorphine treatment nationwide that month occurred in correctional settings.
“Although this study found that buprenorphine use has increased, access in jails and prisons is still inadequate,” researchers advised. “Extensive efforts remain under way to expand the availability of all medications for opioid use disorder in carceral settings.”
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