Public Comment Open: Focused Update of the National Practice Guideline

Beginning today for a period of three weeks, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has made available for member and public comment a draft of the focused update of the National Practice Guideline for the Use of Medications in the Treatment of Addiction Involving Opioid Use.

Overview

The National Practice Guideline was developed to provide information on the evidence-based treatment of opioid use disorder and address all of the FDA-approved medications available to treat addiction involving opioid use and opioid overdose. Since its publication in 2015, new products/formulations, guidelines, and science in the field have emerged; impelling the need for a focused update.  

Methodology

ASAM contracted with the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) to lead this effort using a structured consensus process (i.e. RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method (RAM)), which combines scientific evidence with clinical knowledge to yield a set of recommendations based on a rating panel process.

Instructions for Review

Please click here to download the draft guideline and add comments using the ‘insert comment’ feature only to the updated sections of the document (indicated in blue), with the understanding that this is a focused (not full) update. Any comments that do not fall under this scope will only be considered for the full update in the future. We kindly request that you include line numbers for reference and that the focus of your comments is around the following kinds of questions:

1.      Is the content concise, easy to understand, and relevant?

2.      Are the recommendations stated specifically and unambiguously?

3.      Are there any inaccuracies that may possibly affect patient care?

The deadline to submit comments is July 22, 2019. Upon completion, please save the document, indicate in the email your full name and the name of the organization you are representing (if any), and return to Taleen Safarian at tsafarian@asam.org.

Please also note that ASAM requires all reviewers to disclose any relevant relationships and potential conflicts of interest, and any comments submitted without completing the disclosure form will not be considered.

If you have any questions, please contact Taleen Safarian at tsafarian@asam.org or 301-547-4123. Thank you in advance for your participation in this important initiative. We look forward to your feedback.