Tennessee obstetrician Dr. Craig Towers conducted influential research on pregnant patients with opioid addictions. He challenged the established approach to treating these patients by helping them fully detox using naltrexone, a drug that discourages users by blocking the high.
But after he published a study that found naltrexone to be effective in helping pregnant patients stay off drugs, auditors and addiction specialists found that his research had serious flaws.
Reporter Amy Yurkanin joins Here & Now‘s Robin Young to discuss the concerns that other experts raised with Towers’ study, and how his research still influences the way pregnant patients with opioid addictions are treated today.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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