“I’m proud to join my fellow providers from across the country in signing this letter to Congress expressing our strong opposition to the MOTAA. Although we share the bill sponsors’ goal to expand access to treatment in order to end the opioid crisis, this legislation will do more harm than good,” said Benjamin Nordstrom, M.D., Ph.D., a board-certified addiction psychiatrist.
“Decades of data has shown us that overprescribing is the primary cause of the opioid epidemic and it only follows that deregulating methadone prescribing for opioid use disorder will continue that deadly trend. We need the political will to commit funding for patients to ensure economic access to care, while also focusing on evidence-based solutions that will lead to long-term recovery.”
Benjamin Nordstrom, M.D., Ph.D., is chief medical officer of Behavioral Health Group which operates 116 opioid treatment programs and office-based opioid treatment clinics serving 42,000 patients in 23 states.