Comment;The cost for Lucemyra oral tablet 0.18 mg is around $786 for a supply of 36 tablets, depending on the pharmacy you visit. The lowest GoodRx price for the most common version of clonidine is around $4.84. I guess it’s good to have an option for those who are clonidine-intolerant–but I’ve always been a cheapskate! Both work by the same
Fishman, Marc, MD, FASAM; Tirado, Carlos, MD; Alam, Danesh, MD; Gullo, Kristen, BS; Clinch, Thomas, BS; Gorodetzky, Charles W., MD, PhD for the CLEEN-SLATE TeamJournal of Addiction Medicine: May/June 2019 – Volume 13 – Issue 3 – p 169–176doi: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000474Original ResearchOPENSDC
Objectives: To investigate the safety and efficacy of lofexidine for treating opioid withdrawal syndrome (OWS) and facilitating completion of opioid withdrawal.
Methods: A multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted at 18 US centers from June 2013 to December 2014. Participants (n = 603) aged ≥18 years, dependent on short-acting opioids, and seeking withdrawal treatment, randomized 3:3:2 to receive lofexidine 2.88 mg/d (n = 222), lofexidine 2.16 mg/d (n = 230), or placebo (n = 151) for 7 days. Primary outcome was the Short Opiate Withdrawal Scale of Gossop (SOWS-Gossop) scores rating withdrawal symptoms over days 1 to 7.
Results: Participants were of mean age, 35 years; 71% male. Pairwise differences in overall SOWS-Gossop log-transformed least squares means were statistically significant for lofexidine 2.16 mg (difference, −0.21; 95% CI, −0.37 to −0.04; P = 0.02) and 2.88 mg (−0.26; 95% CI, −0.44 to −0.09; P = 0.003) compared with placebo. Fewer than half of participants in both groups completed the study. Completion rates for lofexidine 2.16 mg (41.5%; odds ratio [OR], 1.85; P = 0.007) and 2.88 mg (39.6%; OR, 1.71; P = 0.02) were significantly better compared with placebo (27.8%). Overall adverse event (AE) rates were similar across groups. Common AEs for lofexidineincluded orthostatic hypotension, hypotension, and bradycardia, but resulted in few study discontinuations.
Conclusions: Lofexidine 2.16 mg and 2.88 mg significantly reduced symptoms of OWS versus placebo, and increased absolute rates of completing the 7-day study by 14% and 12%, respectively (a relative increase of 85% and 71%). Data suggest that lofexidine is a generally safe and effective nonopioid treatment for opioid withdrawal. Lofexidine could serve as a withdrawal treatment option when a nonopioid agent is preferred or required, when agonist-assisted withdrawal is unavailable, when agonist discontinuation caused OWS, and during induction into maintenance treatment with opioid agonists or antagonists.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01863186.
- COVID UPDATE: What is the truth? - 2022-11-08
- Pathologist Speaks Out About COVID Jab Effects - 2022-07-04
- A Massive Spike in Disability is Most Likely Due to a Wave of Vaccine Injuries - 2022-06-30
