Letter Reveals Drug Courts Lobbied Against Key Addiction Treatment

WASHINGTON – The head of a nonprofit organization that represents drug courts lobbied the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services against increasing access to a key addiction treatment. In an Aug. 19, 2014, letter obtained by The Huffington Post through an open records request, West Huddleston, the then-CEO of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, wrote HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell and urged her to keep strict caps on the number of opioid addicts doctors can treat with buprenorphine. Use of the medication along with counseling, known as medication-assisted treatment, is considered by public health officials to give opioid addicts the best chance at a recovery. But many drug court judges have opposed the treatment, insisting defendants go cold turkey …

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