On October 21, 2022, the Biden Administration announced that it will move to expand the use of medication to treat addiction in pregnant women through a new initiative as part of the administration’s strategy to improve maternal health.
“Medications to treat opioid use disorder improve birth outcomes, making it less likely newborns will be born too early. Medications to treat opioid use disorder prevent and reduce the risk of maternal overdose and death,” stated a fact sheet released by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy.
According to this article in the Hill, “the initiative will develop training and technical assistance about medications for opioid addiction treatment, like buprenorphine and methadone, for women who are part of government programs through the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services. It also will offer opioid addition education to women’s health providers through the Department of Veterans Affairs.”
