Press Conference and Senate Symposium
Hosted by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), authors of the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 

Russell Senate Office Building, Room 325 - Caucus Room

Thursday, August 3, 2006
Press Conference: 11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Symposium: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM

The Levin-Hatch Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) established that certified physicians may prescribe certain medications that are Schedule III-IV to treat heroin addiction in an office-based setting and with take-home maintenance prescriptions. 

This groundbreaking law created an entirely new treatment modality for millions of Americans who suffer from dependence on opioids - heroin and prescription opioid painkillers. Prior to passage of this law, medical treatment for opioid addiction and dependence was restricted to designated drug abuse treatment centers. 

Buprenorphine, approved in 2002, is the first drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and qualified under the provisions of DATA 2000 to treat opioid dependence and addiction in a private physician's office. 

Since its launch in early 2003, a growing number of physicians have become certified to treat with buprenorphine, and patient access to such in-office treatment has been steadily growing nationwide, in rural areas and small towns as well as in large metropolitan cities. As more doctors take the training to become certified to treat with buprenorphine, and as they learn to screen their patients for opioid dependence as routinely as they screen for other chronic diseases such as diabetes or hypertension, patients will benefit from wider and more easily available access to this medical treatment for their disease.

DATA 2000 required the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to evaluate the impact of using buprenorphine to treat opioid dependence in an office-based setting. The Secretary subsequently directed the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to conduct a study to determine:

1. The extent to which the availability of opioid dependence treatment increased with buprenorphine under DATA 2000
2. The effectiveness of office-based buprenorphine treatment for opioid dependence
3. Any potential adverse public health consequences of buprenorphine being used for office-based opioid dependence treatment, including diversion and abuse.

The August 3 press conference and Senate Symposium will present the highlights of the data collected for this report, as well as first-hand accounts of office-based buprenorphine treatment by physicians, patients, NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Director Dr. H. Westley Clark, and others.

Partial List of Participants:

• Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), co-author of the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000
• Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), co-author of the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000
• Nora Volkow, MD, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• H. Westley Clark, MD, JD, MPH, Director, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Herbert Kleber, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Division on Substance Abuse, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, and the New York State Psychiatric Institute
• Charles R. Schuster, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Wayne State University School of Medicine
• David Fiellin, MD, ASAM, Associate Professor of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine
• Terry Horton, MD, Medical Director, Phoenix House Treatment Program
• Patients Successfully Treated with Buprenorphine, including a Korean War Veteran and a student at the Berklee College of Music
• Prescribing Physicians, including psychiatrists, primary care physicians, VA doctors, rehab treatment facility physicians, and addiction specialists