Bright Star Healthcare
Bright Star utilizes two medications to treat Opioid Use Disorder
Methadone: Methadone has been used successfully to treat narcotic addiction for over twenty years in the United States and is the only FDA-approved agent in its class for the maintenance treatment of narcotic addiction. Methadone for maintenance treatment is dispensed in treatment centers registered with the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Methadone is used in the long-term maintenance treatment of narcotic dependency. Both heroin and methadone are opioids; as such, methadone and heroin bind to the same places in the brain. Methadone, however, is the opioid of choice for the treatment of narcotic dependency since it is longer lasting and doesn’t provide the “high” associated with drugs that are abused. Methadone prevents the physical withdrawal symptoms that occur when these drugs are stopped. This prevents physical cravings for the drug.
Suboxone: Suboxone is the first opioid medication approved for the treatment of opioid dependence in a private office setting. Suboxone is a partial opioid agonist that blocks other opioids from attaching to receptors in the brain. Blocking the receptors can help prevent misuse of opioids. Suboxone is effective for suppressing symptoms of opioid withdrawal, reducing cravings for opioids, reducing illicit opioid use, blocking the effects of other opioids and helping patients stay in treatment.