Surgeon General Fields Concerns About Addiction Medication During Tennessee Visit

The U.S. Surgeon General made a swing through Tennessee this week to talk about the persistent opioid crisis. And while here, he fielded concerns about misuse of drugs meant to help people addicted to prescription painkillers.

Dr. Vivek Murthy says he fully supports the use of medication to step-down addicts. In fact, he told physicians and residents at Meharry Medical College that learning to treat addiction should be a standard part of training — like learning to take blood pressure.

“We see that medication-assisted treatment is an effective strategy for addressing addiction,” he said. “And part of what we have to do is ensure that more people who are living with addiction have access.”

The Surgeon General has been on a nationwide listening tour, talking mostly to doctors about being more careful with how they prescribe the problem painkillers in the first place. But in Tennessee, he also heard about so-called Suboxone clinics, which have proliferated in states hit especially hard by opioid abuse.

These are places where doctors might have hundreds of addicted patients, all being prescribed this same step-down drug, which is safer than the most powerful painkillers but still addictive and sold on the street.

“I’ve spoken to people at a national level about this,” said Dr. Howard Burley, medical director for Tennessee’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. “I think the focus has been so much on expanding treatment and getting treatment out to people, that they really haven’t focused on some of the unintended consequences.”

Tennessee regulators have been forced to write tighter rules for prescribing these addiction treatment drugs. Burley says he hopes the Surgeon General looks at the state as a possible model as Suboxone clinics start popping up elsewhere.