Pa. Senate bill may make it harder to get some opioid addiction treatments

(Harrisburg) — A bill in the state Senate could make it more difficult to get some kinds of treatments for opioid addiction.

And there are also questions about who is pushing the bill.

State Senator Camera Bartolotta of Washington County proposed the legislation, which requires addiction doctors tell patients about all their options.

But all addiction treatment providers would have to enroll in Medicaid – a bureaucratic process that could lead to suboxone and methadone clinics closing.

Some are concerned that could then boost a newer, expensive treatment called Vivitrol that has limited evidence behind it.

Bartolotta says she met with lobbyists for Alkermes, the company that makes Vivitrol.

I asked her where the Medicaid requirement came from.

“Well you know what, I’m going to have to look more closely into that aspect of the bill, because I think that was just some language that would provide best practices for everyone, even those that are on Medicaid,” says Bartolotta.

An investigation led by Side Effects Public Media, with contributions from WITF, shows that Alkermes, the maker of Vivitrol, has worked across the country to introduce similar bills, in an effort to prop up the drug while raising questions about others.

Bartolotta says the company wasn’t the driving force for the legislation.

“I think you’re lasering in on something that is one speck in a huge issue. I’ve talked to them, I’ve talked to people with methadone clinics, I’ve talked to people with suboxone clinics,” she adds.

A spokesman for Alkermes says it wants to increase awareness of the treatment.