A nurse practioner who provides care for addicts
Federal legislation does not allow Nurse Practitioners to prescribe buprenorphine as a treatment for opioid addiction -- even though we provide all other primary care services for our patients who often also suffer from addiction. Buprenorphine can only be prescribed by physicians and not all physicians choose to offer this safe, life-saving treatment. We have a huge demand for treatment, and a shortage of providers to offer this treatment. Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants could offer this life-saving prescription if there were changes made to this federal policy.