FDA approves prescription app for outpatient opioid use disorder patients

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved a mobile medical application to help increase retention in outpatient treatment programs for opioid use disorder. The app can be downloaded to a patient’s mobile device with a prescription from his/her doctor to use while participating in an outpatient treatment program under the care of a health care professional, in conjunction with treatment that includes buprenorphine and contingency management. “As part of our efforts to address the misuse and abuse of opioids, we’re especially focused on new tools and therapies that can help more people with opioid use disorder successfully treat their addiction,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. “Medical devices, including digital health devices like mobile medical apps, have the potential to play a unique and important role in contributing to these treatment efforts.”