Dr. Akikur Mohammad, Founder of Malibu Horizon, one of the best rehab centers for alcohol treatment and alcohol detox in the country and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California (USC.edu), has never been afraid to speak his mind about the barriers keeping addiction medicine from moving forward and recently has been quite vocal about the limiting factors impacting effective alcohol detox and treatment. Beyond misinformation, Dr. Mohammad is deeply concerned by the fact that many highly effective medications used for alcohol treatment are not FDA indicated (off label), which means that the physicians are taking a risk by prescribing them. Since there are so few FDA indicated medications for treating alcohol detox, top addiction professionals are forced to prescribe ‘off label’ options, which can ultimately be used against the prescribing physicians by malpractice attorneys attempting to discredit doctors.
Dr. Mohammad said, “Aside from the countless studies in the United States and Europe, which undoubtedly prove the effectiveness of certain medications for the exceptional treatment of alcohol detox and alcohol treatment through relapse prevention, it is considered ‘off label’ by the FDA, which leaves physicians susceptible to litigation. This is not just frustrating, but also makes it more difficult for us to provide alcohol abusers with the lifesaving medication they need.” Mohammad added, “For instance, Topiramate (Topamax) is an antiepileptic drug, or seizure medication; however, numerous studies have shown that Topiramate can and should be used for Alcohol Detox and Alcohol Treatment through relapse prevention, due to it effects on GABA and Glutamate receptors, which are unbalanced during Alcohol Detox and during abstinence. It’s not FDA indicated for Alcohol Treatment but Clinically we see significant effects as shown in studies.”
Dr. Mohammad and his team will include this sensitive topic in their forthcoming series of ‘town hall’ meetings in an effort to educate the public and encourage physicians to become more vocal about these unfortunate limitations. Mohammad added, “It is beyond unfortunate when the best possible medications for alcohol treatment aren’t indicated as such by the FDA, which makes the process of treating this disease more difficult. While I understand the FDA’s need to set boundaries, there are more than enough conclusive studies regarding the ‘off label’ benefits of various medications and the simple truth is, we can save more lives by using these medications but we need to work with the FDA to protect physicians from various legal pitfalls that emerge when working with non-FDA indicated medications.”