LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas study says many treatment centers for addiction in the Kansas City area will not accept or have restrictions on accepting patients who have been prescribed medications to fight their addiction.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports Nancy Kepple, an assistant professor for KU’s School of Social Welfare, is the lead author of the study. She says the study surveys 360 Kansas City-area treatment facilities to determine their acceptance rates of people with opioid use disorder who have been prescribed medications to treat the disorder.
The study found that 40% treatment centers have a “mixed-to-negative attitude” toward treating people who take medication to treat the disorder.
Kepple says some treatment centers said they resist accepting those patients because they either don’t have the infrastructure or the knowledge of the medications to feel comfortable enough serving them. Others said they are treatment centers that use the traditional 12-step program, which often adheres to a full-abstinence philosophy.
