PREVALENCE OF BUPRENORPHINE “ABUSE” – IT’S ALL IN THE DEFINITION:

A recent article entitled, “Abuse of Buprenorphine in the US: 2003-2005” did not consider any indicators of the extent of abuse, but merely tabulated those instances in which the “abuse” caused adverse reactions severe enough to lead someone to contact a poison control center. This would seem to be a particularly misleading approach in dealing with buprenorphine, whose key appeal to regulators and clinicians alike is the high degree of safety attributed to its “ceiling effect.” Smith et al. J Addict Dis 2007; 26(3):107-111.