Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Health Professions
 
Board
Board of Medicine
 
chapter
Regulations Governing Prescribing of Opioids and Buprenorphine [18 VAC 85 ‑ 21]
Action Initial regulations
Stage Emergency/NOIRA
Comment Period Ended on 5/3/2017
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4/8/17  11:03 am
Commenter: Andrew Marshall

Reconsider exemptions for this law
 

 

I have been in a subutex outpatient program for about a year now. I have tried other rehab programs in the past, including methadone, but subutex is by far the best. Methadone is extremely hard on your body and the withdraws actually motivate you to keep taking it instead of trying to lower your dose and get clean. Subutex, on the other hand hasn't had any negative impact on my body and I have easily decreased my dose from 24mg per day down to 6mg per day in a matter of three months. I am unable to take suboxone because I have an allergy to naloxone that is a legitimate threat to my wellbeing. My response to naloxone is rapid heart rate, wheezing, dizzy, faint, throat swelling, and without the doctor who recognized the reaction, I may not be here today. I can't believe that this bill was rushed through without any consideration for the people who were benefiting from its use, or people who couldn't take suboxone as an alternative. 

There definitely needs to be provisions to this awful law which consider those patients who are allergic to suboxone. 

CommentID: 58305