A comprehensive response to the opioid epidemic: Hazelden's approach.

For years, treatment professionals have debated the virtues of medication maintenance versus psychosocial therapies for treating opioid addiction. In its response to the opioid crisis, Hazelden is attempting to bridge the difference by using a treatment protocol that involves both the conservative use of safe medications and psychosocial therapies while maintaining the ultimate goal of abstinence. This article discusses the recent and precipitous rise in opioid use, abuse, dependence and overdoses in the United States; the physician's role in creating and solving the problem; and Hazelden's unique approach to caring for people with opioid addiction.