CARMAhealth Observes Alcohol Awareness Month April 1st marked the beginning of this year’s Alcohol Awareness Month, a 30-day effort founded and sponsored by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) to raise awareness toward alcoholism in the United States and reduce the stigma that prevents so many [...]

The Importance of Seamless Medical Care in Addiction Recovery CARMAhealth Doctors Powell and Tirado Discuss the Importance of Medical Care in Addiction Recovery with Texas Medicine Magazine In a piece published in this month’s Texas Medicine Magazine, CARMAhealth’s Medical Director Dr. Steven Powell and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Carlos [...]

Understanding the Benefits of Opioid Substitution For Some Opioid Users, Opioid Substitution is Not An Act of Faith, It’s An Act of Courage In our practice, we always try to meet the patient where they’re at: this is not a tired cliché for us…we really do. We have the [...]

Addiction Treatment and Connections at National Conference CARMAhealth Connects with Drug Czar Jim Carroll at National Conference Representatives from CARMAHealth and our partner organization Recovery Unplugged had the honor of attending this year’s National Cocaine, Meth and Stimulant Conference. The conference was a three-day event that took place from [...]

Understanding the Challenges of Heroin Addiction Doc… I’m Way Smarter Than You I want to share an encounter I recently had with a patient, a guy who has been struggling with heroin addiction for well over 20 years. He’s had years of success with abstinence, buprenorphine and methadone. Each [...]

The Growing Opioid Epidemic: Preventing Overdose Preventing Opioid Overdose When the U.S. Surgeon General published a recent health advisory – the first such alert in the last decade – asking for the public’s assistance in tackling the nation’s growing opioid epidemic, Dr. Scott Walters from the UNTHSC School of [...]

How Text Reminders Enhance Treatment Program Attendance Enhance Treatment Program Attendance Texting has become a preferred means of communication for people all over the world. A text can help quickly and concisely convey important information, keep personal conversations private and remind us about the important things in our lives [...]

Examining the Dangers of Over-Prescribing Opioids Earlier this month, Manhattan Dr. Martin Tesher was convicted by a Brooklyn grand jury on 10 counts of unlawful distribution of oxycodone without legitimate medical purpose. Over the course of five years, the 82-year-old Tesher wrote over 14,000 oxycodone scripts which totaled over [...]

The Challenges of Prescribing Opioids: Finding a Balance Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Scott Gottlieb recently issued a statement calling for substantive and common-sense reforms to prescription opioid dispensation in the medical profession. The statement came on the same day the agency hosted a Patient-Focused Drug Development meeting [...]

Can Vivitrol Suppress HIV? Yale researchers have discovered the extended-release naltrexone, commonly known as Vivitrol may help maintain or improve suppression of HIV among individuals at risk for relapse receiving HIV antiretroviral treatment. The findings were part of a study of inmates in Connecticut who suffered from co-occurring HIV [...]