Receipt of Meds for Opioid Use Disorder in Jail Increases Use After Release

TUESDAY, Sept. 23, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Receipt of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in jail is associated with an increased likelihood of receiving MOUD after community release, according to a study published online in the Sept. 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Peter D. Friedmann, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School-Baystate in Springfield, and colleagues conducted an observational study using linked state data to examine postrelease MOUD receipt, overdose, death, and reincarceration among individuals in carceral settings who did or did not receive MOUD from pilot programs from Sept. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2020.

A total of 6,400 persons with probable OUD were included in the study cohort: 42.4 and 57.6 percent received and did not receive MOUD in jail, respectively. Compared with those not treated, treated persons were more likely to be White, to be sentenced, to be receiving MOUD at jail entry, and to receive MOUD during the first 30 days after community release. Only half (50.4 percent) of MOUD recipients engaged in MOUD treatment for 75 percent of the first 90 days after release; at 180 days, 57.5 percent were receiving MOUD. Compared with no receipt, receipt of MOUD in jail was associated with lower risks for fatal overdose, nonfatal overdose, death from any cause, and reincarceration (adjusted hazard ratios, 0.48, 0.76, 0.44, and 0.88, respectively). There was no significant difference between the groups in the incidence of hospitalizations.

“The Massachusetts initiative represents a model for how jails can play a vital role in addressing the opioid epidemic in the community,” Friedmann said in a statement.

One author disclosed ties to Indivior.

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