If nothing else, it’s just too easy to get prescription meds that you don’t need when you’re a player in Hollywood. That’s one of the main foci of Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Drug Addiction airing on VH1 this week.

Dr. Drew, as many of you most likely already know, is a beacon of sincerity shining his message of hope and recovery like a spotlight on the glaring issue of drug and alcohol addiction in Hollywood. Countless celebrities have come to him for guidance as they struggle with addiction, including the issues that drove them to use in the first place.

In fact, during Dr. Drew’s series, VH1 Celebrity Drug Rehab, he helped a number of celebrities including Chyna, Jeff Conaway, Mary Carey, Jaimee Foxworth, Brigitte Nielson, Ricco Rodriguez, and Seth Binzer. In his new special on the subject, rather than focusing on the problems of specific celebrities, he discusses why it is that those who go to Hollywood often end up in drug rehab.

Why Do Celebrities Struggle with Prescription Painkiller Addiction?

Is it really just access? People shoving pills in your face and free drugs just so they can hang out with you? Keep you happy to keep the party going? Maybe. Maybe that’s how the addiction starts. But it’s easier to maintain a prescription opiate addiction as a celebrity, too. If one doctor tells you no or tries to limit your prescription, the next one will be more than happy to not only give you what you want but come to your house in the middle of the night and hand deliver the prescription. No worries about doctor shopping and legalities that us peasants have to deal with. No hanging out on Pill Hill waiting for someone you know to pass who is prescribed what we want. No calling around to see who has what. And when addiction is easy to maintain, it’s also easy to ignore.

What Do Celebrities Have That We Don’t Have?

Money. Celebs can afford $60,000 for a 30-day stint at some posh resort-style drug rehab like Promises or Cirque Lodge. They can pay $1000 a day for a sober companion to follow them around and make sure that they make good decisions at every turn. Must be nice.

Drug addiction may not be any less deadly for celebrities, but for those of us with fewer people following us around with cameras and, perhaps, more people depending on us to stay clean and sober, it’s crucial that we get drug addiction treatment that is affordable and recognizes the fact that we have responsibilities. Outpatient treatment programs like Meditox—truly outpatient programs that don’t require you to show up for five to eight hours every day for educational classes, groups and other commitments—are economical, both financially and as far as time restraints are concerned. You’re a real person with a job, a family. Maybe you don’t want the world to know that you’ve got an opiate dependency that needs treatment. Maybe you’d rather spend your vacation time at an actual resort rather than an inpatient drug rehab. If that’s the case, Suboxone treatment could be exactly what you’re looking for.

Yet another upside to NOT being a celebrity. Thanks, Dr. Drew.

A few days ago I talked about a possible cousin of buprenorphine, Lofexidine, that may be hitting the market soon. Well, a new member of the opiate addiction treatment family may also be making an appearance in the near future because the phase 3 clinical trials for a drug called Vivitrol with the intent of ascertaining its efficacy in treating opioid dependence are set to begin.

What is Vivitrol?

Alkermes, Inc., is the biotech company that manufactures Vivitrol, a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April 2006 for the treatment of alcohol dependence.

So Why Does Alkermes Think Vivitrol Might Work in Opiate Addiction Treatment?

Dr. Herbert Kleber is a professor of psychiatry and director of the Division on Substance Abuse at Columbia University. He says:

“Opioid dependence is a serious disease affecting millions of people yet there are few approved medications available for these patients and no approved long-acting antagonist therapies. Naltrexone, the active ingredient in VIVITROL, has been shown to effectively block the effects of opiates but patients have difficulty complying with a daily medication regimen. Therefore, I am pleased to see the development of new therapeutic options, such as VIVITROL, which could provide an important approach to long-term recovery and potentially help reduce the risk of relapse.”

The Need for Opiate Addiction Treatment

Opiate addiction is a growing problem in the United States and encompasses the physical dependence upon and nonmedical abuse of drugs ranging from heroin, which is illegal in any context, to opioid-based prescription pain relievers. There are almost 2 million people over the age of 12 in this country alone who abuse opiates, according to the 2006 U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health. In Europe, that number is slightly lower, ranging between 1.3 million to 1.7 million people according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in 2005.

Dr. Elliot Ehrich is the Chief Medical Officer of Alkermes and says, “If approved, VIVITROL would be the first and only non-narcotic, non-addictive, long-acting medication for the treatment of opioid dependence.”

That’s if Lofexidine doesn’t get there first!
For more information on this and other studies pertaining to opiate addiction and opiate addiction treatment, check out Medical News Today.

US WorldMeds is a Kentucky-based specialty pharmaceutical company and they have recently completed Phase III clinical trials of lofexidine hydrochloride (Lofexidine) in the treatment of opiate addiction. More specifically, Lofexidine would treat the withdrawal symptoms associated with opiate detox just like buprenorphine and methadone. So is there a new treatment in the world of opiate addiction? According to Medical News Today, “opiate-dependent patients taking the drug experienced a significant reduction in withdrawal symptoms at the anticipated peak of withdrawal and stayed longer in detoxification treatment as compared to patients taking placebo.”

The Hope of a New Option for Opiate Addiction

Paul Breckinridge “Breck” Jones is the CEO of US WorldMeds. He says, “The debilitating withdrawal symptoms associated with opiate detoxification are a major reason people struggling with heroin or prescription drug addiction avoid or leave treatment. These trial results are impressive and confirm our expectations for Lofexidine. Lofexidine promises to be an important new tool for treating opiate addiction here in the US.”

The Difference Between Lofexidine and Buprenorphine

From what I can tell, the biggest difference is that Lofexidine is non-addictive and non-narcotic, unlike buprenorphine which works because it is an opiate with a high affinity for the opiate receptors that require constant engagement when you are an opiate addict. So Lofexidine is more of a treatment for the withdrawal symptoms than it is for the addiction. It eases the vomiting and nausea, stomach and muscle cramps, cold sweats and insomnia.

What This Could Mean to Opiate Addiction Treatment

Lofexidine is not yet approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) so this is purely speculation, but if the drug were to be approved, it would be the only non-narcotic treatment available for treating opiate withdrawal symptoms. According to Medical News Today,

“Lofexidine has been approved for use for 15 years in the United Kingdom (UK) to manage the often debilitating withdrawal symptoms that occur during opiate detoxification.

“Given the encouraging initial results of the Phase III clinical trial, US WorldMeds intends to submit a new drug application (NDA) for Lofexidine with the FDA for US approval. The NDA will be filed after the complete dataset from the trial, including additional efficacy and safety measures, is analyzed, and additional required studies are completed.”

What do you think?