Opioid use disorder has been a continued public health epidemic in this country.
And it doesn’t just affect adults, but teenagers too.
Medications used to help this disorder, such as buprenorphine, can prevent overdoses and save lives.
But researchers from the CDC’s division of overdose prevention found that teens aren’t getting the medication.
Over a period from 2015 to 2020 the proportion of kids under 19 getting a prescription declined by 45%.
And even though most people that age are treated by pediatricians, pediatricians only gave a small fraction of those prescriptions.
In contrast, the number of adults receiving buprenorphine prescriptions rose by nearly half.
Researchers suggest that doctors working with kids and teenagers need more training in management of substance use disorders to help address this issue.
