Drug addiction treatment should start in the emergency room because it can offer addicts timely access to treatment when they finally decide that they want it, said Brady Granier, president, CEO and director of BioCorRx Inc. (BICX).
Appearing as a guest on Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria," Granier explained that drug addiction is not like any disease where people tend to seek care and do anything to get treatment. It’s unlike people with cancer who will typically do anything within their power to get treatment, he said.
“When an addict is ready for treatment, but if they can't get access, as in right now, you'll lose them,” Granier told "Mornings with Maria" anchor Maria Bartiromo and other guests participating in a roundtable discussion to emphasize the need to begin drug addiction treatment in the ER. “In drug addiction, you have windows of opportunities sometimes. And if you (addict) can’t get immediate treatment, that's a problem. And then you'll lose them. I've seen that happen many times.”
Opioid epidemic
America’s opioid problem has reached epidemic levels. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated that some 23.5 million Americans are addicted to drugs and alcohol with 17 million adult Americans alcohol dependent.
Opioid and alcohol addiction in the U.S. is costing taxpayers billions of dollars annually in health care costs. It is estimated that alcohol addiction in the U.S. alone costs $30 billion annually while the estimated annual overall economic cost reaches $235 billion.
U.S. health care is spending at least $11 billion per year on illegal drugs while the aggregate yearly economic cost is believed to reach $193 billion, SAMHSA said.
A recent study by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Inc. (NCADD) has found that employers in the U.S. lost nearly $81 billion annually because of drug abuse. The NCADD data added that around 70% of the 14.8 million Americans suspected of using illegal drugs are working.
Sustained release of naltrexone, Holy Grail in addiction treatment
However, Granier believes that the current process of treating drug abusers, especially those addicted to opioids, is not as effective most of the time.
Granier pointed out that sustained release naltrexone products may become the gold standard of opioid addiction treatment in the future. Naltrexone is an antagonist that blocks certain receptors in the brain and prevents the euphoric effects caused by opioid use. “As long as you have therapeutic levels of naltrexone in your system, you can’t get high,” Granier boasts.
Naltrexone was developed in the 1960s and was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat opioid addiction in 1984. The drug shows minimal side effects following detoxification and does not have any potential for abuse. It is also nonaddictive. Sadly, Granier said virtually no one was promoting the drug as an effective drug addiction treatment option until recently
Currently, only Alkermes (ALKS, Financial), an $8.39 billion pharmaceutical company, is marketing naltrexone under its Vivitrol brand. But BioCorRx is in the preclinical stage of developing its own injectable naltrexone called BICX101.
BICX101 is being developed with the goal of sustained therapeutic release of naltrexone for one month but using a delivery technology that would require much less volume and a smaller needle than Vivitrol. The company states that it is aiming for a product that can also be administered subcutaneously.
According to Granier, solving America’s drug addiction problem also requires education, as well as cutting off the illegal drug supply. He mentioned organizations like Natural High, which according to its web site, states that its mission is “to inspire and empower youth to find their natural high and develop the skills and courage to live life well.”
DISCLOSURE: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I am receiving compensation from BioCorRx for the article.
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