Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42787723›Full record

ReviewFrontiers in public health2026

De-implementation of inequitable methadone policy and treatment: lessons learned from COVID-19 to support a more just methadone treatment system in the United States.

Kate Roberts, Andrew Goodman, Aaron Ferguson, Axl Kaminski, Tamika Spellman, Rachel Luba

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Kate RobertsDisability Rights California, Sacramento, CA, United States.
Andrew GoodmanColorado Drug Policy Coalition, Denver, CO, United States.
Aaron FergusonNational Survivors Union, Greensboro, NC, United States.
Axl KaminskiDepartment of Sociology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States.
Tamika SpellmanGrammy's Place, Birmingham, AL, United States.
Rachel LubaDepartment of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.

Funding

Substance Use Disorders Treatment/Services Research Training ProgramT32DA007250 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI Derek D Satre, Janice Y Tsoh · 1991 to 2026
$7.4M
A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining Extended-Injectable Buprenorphine in those who use High Potency Synthetic OpioidsK23DA057392 · NIDA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI Rachel R Luba · 2024 to 2026
$541k
NIDA NIH HHS K23 DA057392NIDA NIH HHS T32 DA007250
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Despite decades of evidence supporting methadone as a life-saving treatment for opioid use disorder, its delivery in the US has been stymied by stigmatizing dispensation policies that are neither evidence-based nor person-centered. Implementation failures and regulatory challenges have resulted in a significant treatment gap in the US and less than 30% of people with OUD enter and remain in treatment. In this article, we provide a historical overview of the methadone treatment (MT) system in the US and outline why it requires de-implementation. We present the COVID-19 public health emergency as a naturalistic experiment in de-implementation, outline evidence from this period on how COVID-19 related flexibilities influenced treatment outcomes and patient experiences and present a de-implementation framework to contextualize these changes while imagining further expansion of de-implementation efforts to support sustained change. We highlight how patient advocacy can shape further de-implementation while noting current threats to progress.

Indexed as

COVID-19Health PolicyMethadoneOpiate Substitution TreatmentOpioid-Related DisordersHumansSARS-CoV-2United StatesMethadonede-implementationlow-value caremethadoneopioid use disorderpatient advocacy

Identifiers

PMID42787723
PMCPMC13602142

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.