Hurricane season and addiction: SAMHSA guidance to OTPs.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has said that patient safety comes first, which means that Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) patients may get increased methadone take‐homes even without permission. Preemptive guidance to obtain approval from the OTP's State Opioid Treatment Authority (SOTA) — an office within the state alcohol and drug agency — already has been issued by SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), which regulates OTPs. The SOTA approval to close the OTP can come either via the OTP extranet (an internet that can only be accessed by authorized users), or verbally to the OTP sponsor (owner), said Christopher Garrett, SAMHSA spokesperson. In addition, requests to close may be submitted to SAMHSA retroactively, he told ADAW last week, as Hurricane Ian was bearing down on Florida. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]