AUDIO – MORE THAN ONCE! –

Oct. 9, 2022 –

BEBINGER: This is Liz Tadie. She helped launch a different approach for Marie and other patients at Salem Hospital. That day, when Marie said, please don’t make me go, her doctor called Tadie, a nurse practitioner certified in addiction medicine. Tadie prescribed buprenorphine, a medication that’s helping Marie manage her addiction to opioids. After leaving the hospital, Marie continued to see Tadie for treatment and support.

MARIE: That I wasn’t going to be left alone, like, that I wasn’t going to have to call a dealer ever again, like, that I could delete the number. And I want to get back to my life. I just feel, like, grateful.

BEBINGER: Tadie has used success stories like Marie’s to unravel decades-old stereotypes about addiction and explain treatment options. That means Tadie, a nurse, is often teaching physicians who get very little addiction training in medical school. They aren’t always receptive.

TADIE: Sometimes I would recommend a dose and somebody would give pushback. Initially, I got to know the hospital medicine doctors here, and they, over time, were like, OK, we can trust you.

more@NPR