Treatment for opioid addiction often brings discrimination

Source: Associated Press

Treatment for opioid addiction often brings discrimination

By GEOFF MULVIHILL and CLAUDIA LAUER
April 9, 2022

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Even though her primary doctor had sent her to the ER, she said she was discharged swiftly without being treated and given a stack of papers about the hospital’s policies for prescribing pain medications — drugs she was not asking for.

“It becomes so absurd and the stigma against methadone especially is so strong,” she said, noting that other people in recovery have had it worse. “You’re getting blocked out from housing resources, employment.”

It’s a problem people in the addiction recovery community have dealt with for decades: On top of the stigma surrounding addiction, people who are in medical treatment for substance abuse can face additional discrimination — including in medical and legal settings that are supposed to help.

This week, the U.S. Department of Justice published new guidelines aimed at dealing with the problem: They assert that it’s illegal under the Americans with Disabilities Act to discriminate against people because they are using prescribed methadone or other medications to treat opioid use disorder.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/covid-business-health-opioids-discrimination-5462560a707d7c27b71ed4773d9ba82c