Dr. Frederick Altice discusses his poster with NIDA Director, Dr. Alan I. Leshner.

Dr. Leslie Amass of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver described preliminary results of a study comparing the efficacy of methadone to buprenorphine combined with naloxone (BNX) for treating heroin addiction. Interim results showed that the patients receiving BNX were more likely to abstain from illicit opiates than were the patients receiving methadone. Moreover, Dr. Amass noted, patients receiving BNX were significantly more likely to maintain continuous opiate abstinence than were patients receiving methadone.

Dr. William Gentry of the University of Arkansas in Little Rock described progress in the development of antibody-based medications that can prevent drugs of abuse from reaching the brain by triggering the bodyÕs natural defense mechanisms to recognize and act against the drugs in the bloodstream. Dr. Gentry and his colleague Dr. Michael Owens are developing medications for the treatment of phencyclidine (PCP) and methamphetamine toxicity and have studied the effects of anti-PCP antibodies in animals.

Dr. Frederick Altice, a researcher at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, evaluated the impact of a mobile health services program aimed at out-of-treatment IDUs. The project, begun as a needle exchange program, now incorporates an array of clinical and drug treatment services. Offering these services provides IDUs who are outside the mainstream health care and treatment network with a unique avenue of access to health care. In addition, Dr. Altice says, the program provides researchers with data on the health status of IDUs, their use of hospital emergency room services, and other important medical characteristics.