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Ed Yeates ReportingA 30 day injection that blocks the appetite to drink, offers alcohol-dependent patients a new and better way to fight their addiction. The FDA has just approved the drug, something psychiatrists here and around the country have been anxiously waiting for.
Rick Herschel is a college professor who lost almost everything because of a drinking problem. In fact, he was even stopping at bars before and after rehab, almost thumbing his nose at any attempts to intervene in his addiction.
Rick Herschel: "So I systematically had taken everyone who cared for me and pushed them away."
But then along came a clinical trial, testing a 30-day injection of a drug called Vivitrol. The urge to drink disappeared.
The main ingredient has been available in pill form, but never a timed released injection like this. Over 30 days, specially designed particles bind to opioid receptors in the brain. Compliance appears easier, with fewer relapses.
How do drinkers respond to the recipes in these new drugs? Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Crookston says they don't even think about alcohol.
Michael Crookston, M.D., LDS Hospital Dayspring Program: "Drinking isn't as much fun. The term that was used once is it takes the buzz out of beer."
Hopefully with a second FDA approval, the new compounds could also be used to block a user of pain killers or street drugs from getting high.
Michael Crookston, M.D.: "If they tried to use and they still can take the pills or inject heroin, nothing happens."
"Rebecca": "I started on that and it was pretty much instantly, my craving, my desire to do that were gone."
And while in the hospital for an injury, when doctors gave her a legitimate pain medication?
Rebecca: "I took the pain medication and it didn't do anything to me but kill the pain."
The high, the euphoria never happened; they were blocked.
The once a month injection of Vivitrol should be available for patients this summer
