WHO DOESN’T? –

June 13, 2022 – In Australia, the drug is approved for use in a “comprehensive treatment program for alcohol dependence”. This involves taking one dose, every day, as part of a wider strategy to maintain abstinence. Since 2001, the medication has been listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, currently with an out-of-pocket cost of $42.50 per month.

Kate discovered this potential while scouring the internet for a remedy. Since her mid-40s, she had fallen into a familiar rhythm of finishing up to two bottles of whiskey a week, and while she didn’t know whether naltrexone would address her dependence on alcohol, she did know that the approaches that championed strict sobriety, like Alcoholics Anonymous, wouldn’t have an effect.

“I wanted to be able to do this with dignity,” Kate, now 55 and no longer experiencing AUD, told VICE. “I just knew that I was beyond the point of abstinence.”

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