In recent years, patients seeking treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) have had another option: Suboxone (buprenorphine), an approved medication that for many patients has advantages over methadone.

In reality, without medication fewer than 5% of people with OUD can recover, and virtually all patients will relapse within 30 days of leaving inpatient rehab or jail. Because of the unique way that opioids rewire the brain, many relapse on their first day out. Some overdose and die.