Dr. J. Wesley Ruffin see’s heroin patients on a daily basis at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. He says he see’s some of the same patients each month.
“Addiction is a tough disease to treat,” said Ruffin.
He is excited about a new monthly injection treatment called Sublocade. The treatment was just approved by the FDA last month.
“A lot of people don’t want to take a pill everyday, this drug help curbs the desire to use opioids it also blocks the withdrawal effects,” said Ruffin.
Gino Scano was a user back in the 1990’s. He believes this type of treatment will help people kick the habit.
"We didn’t really have that back then, everything we had then was punitive,” said Scano.
Tampa Bay area recovery centers are hoping to start using the new injection starting next month.
