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1991.04.17 :  Veterans Addiction Treatment Facility

Contact:  Mona W. Brown Monica Revelle (301)443-6245
April 17, 1991

       HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., and Secretary of
Veterans Affairs Edward J. Derwinski today jointly announced the
opening of a 24-bed drug abuse treatment research facility in the
Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C.  Clinical
trials to be conducted at the medical center will study new
medications to treat addiction to illicit drugs and alcohol.
       "We know a lot about medications that work in the
treatment of a host of diseases and ailments, but not enough
about what might be effective in the treatment of drug abuse.  We
look at this program as an aggressive step in determining which
medications will help people who abuse or are addicted to drugs,"
Secretary Sullivan said.
       "We are glad to have this facility available for a program
which could ultimately save lives and eliminate the devastation
of drug dependence for many," Secretary Derwinski said.
       This research facility will recruit carefully selected
veterans and non-veterans with primary diagnosis of substance
abuse disorders as volunteers for the research projects.  These
individuals will be enrolled in specific research studies
designed to test the potential benefits of new medications in
drug abuse treatment.  Dr. Stephen Deutsch, chief of psychiatry
at the medical center, said, "Our veterans with substance abuse
disorders will be the first to receive these novel medications,
but when the protocol is over, our commitment to them will not
end.  They are eligible for the full 
range of VA inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation treatment."
       The first clinical trials to be conducted at this site
will involve testing of buprenorphine, a medication that may be
useful for treating opiate addiction.  Other trials may involve
testing medications to treat cocaine dependence.
       The medical center will be staffed by two experienced
physicians with expertise in the area of substance abuse, two
psychologists, a biochemical pharmacologist, and scientific and
administrative support staff.
       The opening of this research facility marks the beginning
of a four-year interagency agreement between the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, a component of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse,
and Mental Health Administration, and the Department of Veterans
Affairs.  The research at the medical center is conducted in
conjunction with the new Medications Development Division of
NIDA.  All research protocols will be approved by an appropriate
institutional review board at the medical center.
       Dr. Charles R. Schuster, director of NIDA, said, "We know
that drug addiction changes the chemical functioning of the
brain.  With research from these clinical trials, we hope to
develop medications that restore a degree of normality to stop
the addiction cycle."

       Dr. Frederick K. Goodwin, administrator of ADAMHA, said,
"The particularly strong craving caused by cocaine is a challenge
to the success of treatment and long-term abstinence from the
drug.  A major focus of these research studies will be the
development of 
medications that will block cocaine's effects on the brain, thus
blocking the euphoria it induces and reducing cocaine craving."  

       NIDA also has agreements with VA medical centers in Los
Angeles and Philadelphia, and with the VA Cooperative Study
System to conduct carefully monitored clinical trials to test
potential medications.  In addition, the interagency agreements
provide for the training of physicians as substance abuse
clinical research specialists.  Training includes diagnosis and
management of patients with primary substance abuse disorders and
how to conduct both clinical and laboratory research.

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