Toxicology Associates of North Georgia, Inc.
Toxicology Associates of North Georgia, Inc.
serving The atlanta area
Visit us online! Tanghelp.com
751 Collins Hill Road Lawrenceville, GA 30046 (770) 248-1616
1700 Cumberland Point Drive, Suite 1 Marietta, GA 30067 (770) 612-8264
2536 Carrollton Villa Rica Hwy, Carrollton, GA 30116 (770) 214-9788
Toxicology Associates of North Georgia, Inc. (TANG) is a private outpatient medical practice devoted to the treatment of Chronic Opioid Dependence. Chronic Opioid Dependence is a long-term addiction or dependence to heroin or other
The Program and You This is your program and it exists only for you and because of you. Staff is here to serve you but they cannot make recovery happen for you. How much you get out of the program will depend on what you put into it. We urge you to become fully involved in your own treatment and recovery. As a Methadone Treatment Program, the United States Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Georgia Department of Human Resources and the Georgia Board of Pharmacy regulate us. Some regulation is established at the clinic level but much is mandated by State and Federal regulations. In addition, the Program is required to adhere to treatment standards for opioid treatment programs, which ensure that participants receive high quality services. who are attempting to overcome an addiction to or dependence upon heroin or other opioids. TANG provides medically supervised Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) to individuals
morphine-like drugs. The treatment modality most frequently used in this program involves the use of the drug Methadone as an important part of a treatment program offering a variety of services, some on-site and others through linkages and referrals. Goals The primary goal in treatment is helping patients improve the quality of their lives by improved health and rehabilitation. This process is often facilitated by the proper use of Methadone, which may be needed for a few months to many years.This is a private outpatient medical practice devoted to the treatment of Chronic Opioid Dependence. In addition to medication you will be afforded counseling and medical care. Additional services my include social services, psychiatric consultation, vocational training, educational guidance, legal assistance, and special group support meetings. Many of these services are provided by other agencies with which we work to establish the most efficient referral and linkage network.
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We have a team waiting to assist you through the intake process.
CONTACT 2536 Carrollton Villa Rica Hwy, Carrollton, GA 30116 (770) 214-9788 Phone CARROLLTON Toxicology Associates of North Georgia Carrollton, Inc.
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TANG offers methadone maintenance and detoxification services. These services include periodic physical and mental assessment and ongoing individual and group counseling. STABILIZATION Following stabilization on methadone, our primary purpose is to help you identify, achieve and maintain a productive, stable lifestyle free from use of illicit opiates. This is accomplished through an individual treatment plan that reflects your potential to reach your highest level of functioning. For some, this may be lifelong retention on methadone. For others, however, methadone is a short-term, stabilizing form of treatment leading to a transition to other drug- free modalities and an ultimate drug-free lifestyle. COUNSELORS You will work with a counselor who has been trained in providing treatment services to individuals with substance abuse issues. A part of these services includes identifying a consumer’s needs for rehabilitative services (such as vocational, educational, legal, mental health, alcoholism and social services) and putting them in touch with people or agencies in the community who can provide these services. Assistance in some of these areas is available at this clinic; however, it is often necessary for a consumer to go to outside agencies to receive comprehensive services. Your counselor is able to introduce you to some of the providers of the services that are available in the community and give you a referral for utilizing these services.
have chosen to better your life by YOUU SEEKING 2536 Carrollton Villa Rica Hwy
TREATMENT!!!
Carrollton, GA 30116 (770) 214-9788 Phone
www.tanghelp.com
Contact Us 751 Collins Hill Road Lawrenceville, GA 30046 (770) 248-1616 Phone LAWRENCEVILLE ToxicologyAssociatesof NorthGeorgia,Gwinnett, Inc.
TANG provides medically supervised Methadone Maintenance Treatment
(MMT) to individuals who are attempting to overcome an addiction to or dependence upon heroin or other opioids.
www.tanghelp.com
The risk for drug overdose is 12.7 times greater in individuals who have been incarcerated than in individuals in the general population. An article published in the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics described the consequences of limited treatment options for individuals with opioid use disorder in the criminal justice system. Curtis Bone, MD, MHS, from the Yale University School of Medicine, and colleagues recalled a patient who refused treatment with methadone for opioid use disorder because he worried about withdrawal: although heroin withdrawal effects are significant, the patient worried more for the prolonged effects of methadone withdrawal, particularly in a prison environment. After this patient encounter, Dr Bone explored the reasons behind prison refusal to accommodate methadone, recognizing also that the criminalization of drugs across the United States has led many with substance use disorders to regard “incarceration...[as] a foregone conclusion.” Among those treated with methadone or buprenorphine, 70% return to employment or schooling, and risk for overdose and viral illnesses are significantly reduced. Despite these positive effects, just 55% of federal prison medical directors report offering methadone, and even fewer offer buprenorphine. Among prisons that do supply addiction treatment, the outcomes include reduced rates of mortality, hepatitis C infection, and re- incarceration. Dr Bone also noted that methadone treatment “returns 12-14 dollars for every dollar spent,” a significant financial incentive for its use. Even so, prisons largely do not adopt methadone treatment programs, often citing “staff objections.” Many prison staff members report not endorsing methadone because they perceive it as substituting 1 drug for another, or as a facilitator to addiction.5 However, scientific evidence and bioethics alike renounce these perceptions as unproductive and inaccurate.
Failure to treat addiction is detrimental both to incarcerated individuals themselves and to their communities, Dr Bone noted. The effect of addiction is disproportionately shouldered by low-income communities and communities of color. Children of parents with a substance abuse disorder have higher rates of emotional and behavioral problems than the general population. In addition, communities among which rates of addiction and incarceration are high have increased risk for HIV and hepatitis. diseases may be a byproduct of the federal prison system’s failure to address substance abuse among the incarcerated. In addition to systematic refusal to accommodate methadone programs, patients themselves often reject the option because they fear the “horrific” Dr Bone postulates that the heightened risk for these
experience of methadone withdrawal in prison, as Dr Bone’s once did.
Addiction THERE IS
WAY OUT.
LET US HELP PLEASE CALL 1.877.792.3342 >>>>>>
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What is Addiction? According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, addiction is defined as “Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in the individual pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors. The addiction is characterized by impairment in behavioral control, craving, inability to consistently abstain, and diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships. Like other chronic diseases, addiction can involve cycles of relapse and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death.” Treatment For Addiction While there are many types of addiction, TANG specializes in treating addiction to opiates and opioids. Our facilities institute treatment for opioid dependency through Methadone Detoxification, Methadone Maintenance, and counseling.
Opioids are among the most abused substances. Opioids affect the brain receptors that govern the release of neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine), which in turn regulate emotions and allow an individual to cope with physical pain.
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The primary goal in treatment is helping patients improve the quality of their lives by improved health and rehabilitation.
MARIETTA ToxicologyAssociatesofNorthGeorgia, Inc.
www.tanghelp.com 1700 Cumberland Point Drive • Suite 1 • Marietta, GA 30067 • (770) 612-8264 Phone
Too Much? From the Office of Dr. Study cites concern over doctors' prescribing habits
Family physicians are the largest prescribers of opioid pain medications, even outpacing pain specialists, according to a recent study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. The findings reinforce the need for prevention efforts that focus on prescribing behaviors of physicians as well as patients who are at risk of overdosing, the researchers say. “Overprescribing is a national concern, and mitigation efforts should not be oversimplified or targeted to a select few prescribers, or to regions of the country, or to patient populations or communities,” says Victoria Richards, associate professor of medical sciences at Quinnipiac University School of Medicine, in a HealthDay article on the study. According to the advocacy group Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, many prescribers underestimate the risks associated with opioids – especially the risk of addiction – and overestimate their effectiveness.
Prescription rates vary
painkiller prescriptions per person as those in the lowest prescribing state. Yet, health conditions that cause people pain do not vary much from place to place and do not explain this variability in prescriptions issued. These latest findings add fuel to those who advocate for stricter oversight of narcotic pain medication. Approximately
44 people die each day from prescription opioids, and opioid- related deaths have tripled since the 1990s. More than 80 percent of these deaths are accidental or unintentional, according to the CDC, which estimates that up to 60 percent of opioid overdose deaths occur in people without a prior history of substance abuse.
Another indicator of the need for more scrutiny of prescribing practices is that prescribing rates for opioids vary widely among states, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2012, health care providers in the highest-prescribing state wrote almost three times as many opioid
Who is prescribing painkillers? In 2013, 15.3 million family practice physicians and 12.8 million internal medicine physicians wrote prescriptions for narcotic pain medication, researchers found in studying Medicare Part D drug coverage claims.The study also found that nurse practitioners wrote 4.1 million prescriptions for narcotic painkillers while physician assistants ordered up 3.1 million.The research, led by Dr. Jonathan Chen of Stanford University, focused on prescriptions for narcotic painkillers containing hydrocodone (drugs such as Vicodin), oxycodone (Oxycontin and Percocet), codeine and others in the opioid class. In studying prescriptions written by 808,020 American doctors in 2013, the researchers found that pain management specialists and anesthesiologists wrote the most prescriptions for opioids. On average, individual pain doctors ordered 900 to 1,100 prescriptions for painkillers in 2013, and anesthesiologists wrote nearly 500. By comparison, each family physician wrote an average of about 160 prescriptions. Because there are many more family doctors than specialists, as a group, their number of painkiller prescriptions was higher than for any other provider category—more than 15 million prescriptions collectively, followed by internal medicine physicians at just under 13 million. In total, these two groups wrote more than half of all opioid prescriptions in the country. Pain specialists, including those involved in the more invasive sub-specialty of interventional pain management, accounted for about 3.3 million prescriptions.
CDC issues draft guidelines In the wake of growing concern over the excessive use of prescription opioids, the CDC recently issued a draft Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.The document provides recommendations regarding when and how these drugs are used for chronic pain: selection, dosage, duration, follow- up, and discontinuation; and assessment of risk and addressing harms of opioid use. However, the Guideline is not a federal regulation; adherence to it will be voluntary, the CDC notes.
CHOOSE A BETTER LIFE 1.877.792.3342 WWW.TANGHELP.COM
What is methadone maintenance treatment (MMT)?
MMT is a comprehensive treatment program that involves the long-term prescribing of methadone as an alternative to the opioid on which the client was dependent. Central to MMT is the provision of counselling, case management and other medical and psychosocial services -- which are afforded to you as a patient at TANG.
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www.tanghelp.com call our 24 Hour help line at 1.877.792..3342
The harsh reality is that opioids are killing thousands of people in this country, many of them young people
State legislators focused on opioid addiction treatment and prevention in schools and prisons Thursday while reviewing bills that would both use medications to thwart overdoses and assist in recovery. A bill making its way through the Legislature would require all schools with grades 9 to 12 to have policies for training nurses on how to administer naloxone. The schools would also have to keep a supply of the medication ready. “The harsh reality is that opioids are killing thousands of people in this country, many of them young people,” Assemblyman Vincent Mazzeo, D-Atlantic, bill sponsor, said in a statement. “Narcan has been proven to save lives. Having it readily available in schools can help ensure that our schools are ready to respond in every emergency situation.” Several South Jersey schools, including Millville, Mainland Regional High School, the Egg Harbor Township School District and the Ocean City School District, already have such policies in place. As of 2017, New Jersey ranked eighth in the nation for drug overdose deaths among people ages 12 to 25, according to the national nonprofit Trust for America’s Health. There have been an estimated 654 overdose deaths in New Jersey since Jan. 1, according to the Department of the Attorney General.
The bill would require that nurses be taught how to use the anti-opioid drug and have a prescription standing order for naloxone to keep it in supply. There were more than 14,300 uses of naloxone in the state last year, state data shows. If passed, the law would also provide immunity from liability for school nurses and other employees when an opioid reversal is performed. Nearby, members of the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee reviewed a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Herb Conaway, D-Burlington, that would require state correctional facilities to offer inmates naltrexone and naloxone just before their release. Naltrexone, known by its brand name Vivitrol, is a type of nonopioid medication- assisted treatment (MAT) for a substance-use disorder. Studies have shown medication-assisted treatments like naltrexone, methadone and buprenorphine have successfully been used to reduce relapse rates and help people maintain recovery from opioid addiction. Vivitrol completely blocks the euphoric and sedative effects of opioids. Recipients often need a monthly shot of the medication administered by a medical professional.
At John Brooks Recovery Centers in Atlantic City and Pleasantville, Vivitrol is just one medication-assisted treatment offered to inpatient and outpatient patients, but it is coupled with counseling and other treatment education. Alan Oberman, CEO of John Brooks Recovery Center, said that while the bill looks well intentioned, giving one shot of Vivitrol, which costs about $1,000, to an outgoing inmate without follow-up or counseling only buys that person about three or four weeks of sobriety before they may use again. “It’s more than just giving an injection, which at least requires a nurse to do it, and many outpatient programs in the community don’t have medical staff there to do it regularly,” he said. While methadone and buprenorphine are MATs that have been on the market for some time, Vivitrol is relatively new. John Brooks and the Atlantic County jail teamed up last summer to create the state’s first mobile methadone program for inmates. Oberman said they now offer inmates Vivitrol, but they haven’t yet had any takers.
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WWW.TANGHELP.COM 751 COLLINS HILL ROAD • LAWRENCEVILLE, GA 30046 • 770 248 1616 PHONE
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT US AT 1.877.792.3342 WWW.TANGHELP.COM
Patients who wind up in emergency rooms because of drug use have far more types of drugs in their systems than the standard screening test used by hospitals is catching, a new study has found.
While the drug epidemic has focused on opioid use, two-thirds of patients who ended up at two University of Maryland Medical System emergency rooms in 2016 had multiple drugs in their systems — up to six were found in some urine samples. Emergency rooms tend to use a basic urine test that, like a pregnancy test, turns colors when it detects certain chemicals in drugs. The test is quick and inexpensive, but detects fewer than a dozen drugs, including opioids. The tests don’t detect drugs such as fentanyl and oxycodone, both of which have contributed to record overdoses across the country. Knowing what drugs a patients has taken can help doctors better decide a course of immediate treatment, as well as follow- up treatment such as rehabilitation, said doctors from the two emergency rooms and researchers from the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland, College Park. “We need to know the drug trends to know how to help people,” said Dr. Zachary D.W. Dezman, an attending physician in the emergency room at Midtown. Urine samples were tested from 106 patients at Prince George’s and 69 from the Midtown campus. Patients in Baltimore tested positive mostly for marijuana and fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic often added to heroin without users knowing.
The results highlight the complexities that exist in the current epidemic, said principal investigator Eric Wish, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Research. In some cases, dealers are mixing drugs without the knowledge of users. Many of the patients whose urine was tested misinformed doctors about what they had taken. “It used to be [drug users] didn’t want to admit what they were taking,” Wish said. “In this age they don’t know what they are taking.” Maryland’s drug-related deaths increase for seventh straight year, reach all-time high in 2017. “People are like walking drug stores now, there are so many drugs in their system,” Wish said. “A lot of the treatment now is focused on opioids. The important thing for the medical and treatment community to know is they are using far more than opioids.” Lawmakers and public health officials need to know the extent of fentanyl use to help reduce it, he said. “The emergency room is a place from which you can launch those public health efforts,” he said.
We offer a variety of treatment options to meet your needs.
WE CAN HELP YOU. VISIT US TODAY 1700 Cumberland Point Drive Suite 1 Marietta, GA 30067
Call Us 1.877.792.3342
The Pain you feel today... is the strength you feel tomorrow...
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