A controlled trial of daily versus thrice-weekly buprenorphine administration for the treatment of opioid dependence

Randomized trial of buprenorphine for treatment of concurrent opiate and cocaine dependence

“…The lowest dose of buprenorphine (2 mg daily) was not associated with reductions in opiate use, which fails to confirm an earlier suggestion that this low dose might be effective for the treatment of opiate dependence 5 . The lack of significant effect from 16 mg every other day is consistent with a recent controlled trial comparing daily (8 mg) versus 3‐times‐weekly buprenorphine 41 but fails to confirm earlier studies of smaller samples that indicated every‐other‐day dosing could reduce opiate use 6 , 42 . In this study every‐other‐day dosing was not coupled with reduced clinic attendance requirements, which ensured comparable clinic contact by all groups.…”

A survey of buprenorphine related deaths in Singapore

“…The range of buprenorphine detected in postmortem blood was 0.8-17.1 ng/mL. The level of buprenorphine detected in the post-mortem blood of Case 13 was above the reported therapeutic range of 1-8 ng/mL, as quoted for opiatedependent subjects undergoing 8 mg sublingual buprenorphine per day maintenance program [3]. Group 3 ( Table 6) lists cases that were unnatural deaths not attributable to drugs.…”

“…The danger was apparent even where the post-mortem blood levels were found to be within the therapeutic range [3]. It underscored the danger of concurrent administration of buprenorphine with benzodiazepines.…”

Practical Consideration for the Clinical Use of Buprenorphine

“…Subsequently, numerous studies examined the safety and efficacy of buprenorphine maintenance treatment (Ahmadi, 2002; Amass, Kamien, and Mikulich, 2000; Fischer et al, 1999; Fudala and Johnson, 1995; Fudala et al, 2003; Johnson, Jaffe, and Fudala, 1992; Johnson et al, 1995 a , 1995 b , 2000; Kosten et al, 1993; Ling et al, 1996; Mattick et al, 2003; Pani et al, 2000; Perez de los Cobos et al, 2000; Petitjean et al, 2001; Schottenfeld et al, 1997, 2000; Strain et al, 1994; Uehlinger et al, 1998). The only study to compare buprenorphine, LAAM, and high-dose methadone found that all three produced similar reductions in illicit opioid use and were superior to low-dose methadone (Johnson et al, 2000).…”