Black patients far less likely to receive key opioid addiction medication, study finds

Black people are far less likely than other Americans to receive buprenorphine, a key medication for treating opioid use disorder, according to a new study.

White patients in need of addiction care were prescribed buprenorphine at more than twice the rate of Black patients in the six months preceding an addiction-related health emergency, according to the analysis. The treatment gap continued at a similar rate in the six months after an overdose, hospitalization, or admission to a rehab facility.