“Judges, doctors and lawmakers on the front lines of the opioid addiction crisis have a problem: Three types of medications are available to help the estimated 200,000 Ohioans struggling to recover from addiction and yet there are no clear answers as to which, if any, drug works best.
The skyrocketing demand for treatment has spurred competition among drugmakers for a piece of the growing market, which in Ohio is worth well over $100 million a year in public money alone.
It has led to a vigorous, ongoing debate about how to spend limited tax money while also saving the most lives.
The fastest-growing medication has the shortest track record and the highest price: Vivitrol, a monthly shot that blocks receptors in the brain so that a person can't feel the euphoria or high from opioids.
In 2012, Ohio Medicaid paid for 100 doses of the injectable medication. Last year, it paid for over 30,000 doses -- at a cost of more than $38 million...” -- Cleveland.com
