Medications for Opioid Use Disorder

"An estimated 61 million people used unregulated opioids in 2023 worldwide.¹ Opioid use disorder (OUD) is the third most prevalent substance use disorder worldwide after alcohol and tobacco use disorders.² In 2022, an estimated 3.7% of US adults (9,367,000) had OUD.³ Severe OUD, defined as meeting at least 6 of 11 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition)⁴ criteria, is associated with 15 years of decreased life expectancy, and almost 20% of patients with severe OUD die of overdose.⁵ In the US, opioid overdose deaths increased from 8407 in 2000⁶ to a peak of 84,424 in 2022,⁷ before decreasing to 53,774 in 2024. Since 2016, fentanyl, an opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, has been the most common cause of opioid overdose deaths, accounting for 47,369 deaths (88%) in 2024. In a 2023 nationally representative survey, 42.4% of US adults reported knowing at least one person who died by overdose.⁸ Although buprenorphine and methadone substantially reduce mortality and morbidity, only 25.1% of individuals with OUD receive medications for OUD (MOUD).³"