"You're Not Supposed to be on it Forever": Medications to Treat Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) Related Stigma Among Drug Treatment Providers and People who Use Opioids

Abstract

Opioid use disorder (OUD) through prescription opioid misuse, heroin, and illicitly manufactured fentanyl use has increased dramatically in the past 20 years. Medications to treat opioid use disorder (MOUD) is considered the gold standard for treating opioid use disorders but uptake remains low. Recently, Madden has argued that in addition to the stigma assigned to substance use and people with SUD, MOUDs also are stigmatized, a process she labels intervention stigma to distinguish it from condition stigma (ie, stigma of SUD) . In this paper, we examine MOUD related stigma from the perspective of people who use opioids (PWUO) and key informants who play some role in providing or referring people to drug treatment. Providers and PWOU often viewed MOUD as one drug replacing another which discouraged providers from recommending and PWUO from accepting MOUD. MOUD stigma was also expressed by providers' exaggerated fear of MOUD diversion. The extent to which MOUD was accepted as a legitimate treatment varied and influenced treatment providers' perceptions of the goals of drug treatment and the length of time that MOUD should be used with many feeling that MOUD should only be used as a temporary tool while PWOU work on other treatment goals. This led to tapering off of MOUD after some time in treatment. Some providers also expressed mistrust of MOUD stemming from their previous experiences with the over-prescription of opioids for pain which led to the current crisis. Results from this study suggest that the proportion of PWUO on MOUD is unlikely to increase without addressing MOUD stigma among drug treatment providers and PWUO seeking treatment.

Keywords: Substance-related disorders; buprenorphine; methadone; social stigma.