South Anna-Maria, Fanucchi Laura, Lofwall Michelle
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine, Addic-tion Consult and Education Service, Bell Alcohol and Addictions Scholar 2022 and 2023, University of Kentucky College of Medi-cine, Lexington, Kentucky.
UK Addiction Consult and Education Service, Divi-sion of Infectious Diseases, Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Ken-tucky.
J Opioid Manag. 2023 Special-Issue;19(7):53-60. doi: 10.5055/jom.2023.0799.
Americans with opioid use disorder (OUD) have a disability that is protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Physicians may observe ADA violations when patients are forced to stop taking medications for opioid use disor-der (MOUD) as part of an entity's blanket policy that prohibits MOUD or when patients are denied medical treatment for various illnesses due to having an OUD diagnosis and/or receiving MOUD. Physicians and patients are likely unaware of how to identify potential ADA violations or what to do when they encounter one. This article will explain the ADA and how its protections are applicable to patients with OUD using several case examples. Physicians will learn to recognize possi-ble ADA violations and how to file a report with the Assistant United States Attorney. The article will outline how previous ADA settlements have addressed barriers to MOUD treatment access and highlight the need for more clinicians to serve as advocates to ensure all public entities and accommodations are in compliance with the ADA as it pertains to patients with OUD.
患有阿片类药物使用障碍（OUD）的美国人所患的残疾受《美国残疾人法案》（ADA）保护。当患者因某个实体禁止使用阿片类药物使用障碍药物（MOUD）的全面政策而被迫停止服用MOUD药物时，或者当患者因患有OUD诊断和/或正在接受MOUD治疗而被拒绝接受各种疾病的治疗时，医生可能会观察到违反ADA的情况。医生和患者可能不知道如何识别潜在的ADA违规行为，或者在遇到违规行为时该怎么做。本文将通过几个案例来说明ADA以及其保护措施如何适用于患有OUD的患者。医生将学会识别可能违反ADA的行为以及如何向美国助理检察官提交报告。本文将概述以往ADA和解协议如何解决MOUD治疗获取方面的障碍，并强调需要更多临床医生担任倡导者，以确保所有公共实体和场所都遵守与患有OUD的患者相关的ADA规定。
