WVa Judge Confronts DEA Hypocrisy

Kudos to the judge!

According to this news piece, West Virginia U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin gave an order to DISSOLVE the Order of Immediate Suspension of Registration of a local pharmacy, and in so doing struck a blow in support of increased access to buprenorphine and medication-assisted treatment (MAT). 

DEA continues to push the lie that buprenorphine poses an “imminent danger to the public health or safety” of the community based on the possibility of recreational use of the drug, while doing nothing to reduce the "recreational" use of tobacco or alcohol, and failing to acknowledge the relative safety of buprenorphine in overdose, compared to other opioids. In so doing, DEA stupidly supports use of deadly fentanyl-laced black market drugs.

DEA should encourage and promote wider use of buprenorphine rather than attempting to restrict its distribution. Such a policy could save lives all across America. In my opinion current DEA policy poses more of an “imminent danger to the public health or safety” of Americans than buprenorphine or the pharmacies that dispense it.

We should allow pharmacies to dispense this safest opioid over-the-counter to adults just like more dangerous alcohol and more addictive nicotine.

Berry Edwards, MD