1/31/2019
`
`Vivitrol injection blocks cravings for a full month
`
`Beating heroin with 'willpower in a shot'
`
`Jean Enersen and Pat Duggan, KING News
`
`Published 1:06 a.m. ET Feb. 12, 2015 | Updated 11:28 a.m. ET Feb. 12, 2015
`
`Jean Enersen reports.
`
`CONNECT
`
`TWEET
`
`LINKEDIN
`
`COMMENT
`
`EMAIL
`
`MORE
`
`Ryan Davis looks like the college student he is now
`and not like the heroin addict he used to be.
`
`"I would get myself clean for about a month or so
`and then just go right back to it again," he said.
`
`(Photo: .)
`
`Addiction specialist Dr. Stephen Markus of Creekside
`Center for Integrative Medicine sees it all the time.
`
`"Young people notoriously will leave treatment, get picked up by their friends and be
`high by the end of the day," said Markus.
`
`For Davis, heroin became a constant craving he couldn't control. The addiction took
`over his life.
`
`"Heroin is something that will beat you down until you feel completely hopeless."
`
`Families feel hopeless too. Davis' mother, Kelly describes it as the worst time in her
`life.
`
`"It's really hard watching your child become somebody that you don't even know
`anymore," she said.
`
`Then Davis heard about a once-a month injection called Vivitrol that blocks the effects
`of heroin. Dr. Markus said the drug has a distinct advantage over other opiate
`antagonists.
`
`BY CHARLES SCHWAB
`5 Common Indicators and Their Uncommon (Yet
`Helpful) Uses
`
`See more →
`
`"The nice thing about Vivitrol is that once you take a shot, that shot can't be removed
`from the body. It's in there for four whole weeks. You're covered completely. You cannot
`https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2015/02/12/addiction-heroin-vivitrol/23263073/
`
`1/2
`
`ALKERMES EXHIBIT 2052
`Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC v. Alkermes Pharma Ireland Limited
`IPR2018-00943
`
`

`

`1/31/2019
`
`Vivitrol injection blocks cravings for a full month
`
`override it and get any reward."
`
`Still Davis' mother wasn't convinced.
`
`"I was very skeptical because I thought I'm not putting you on something that you're
`going to start using as a crutch," she said.
`
`Or worse, like methadone treatment for heroin, she worried that her son would simply
`be trading one addiction for another. However, Vivitrol is not addictive. It's been likened
`to willpower in a shot.
`
`"It really makes any kind of craving go away very quickly so it's really amazing," said
`Davis.
`
`His mother still had doubts. She had seen him go down this path so many times
`before.
`
`"You always have to be skeptical, because you never know when they're going to go
`off the deep end, but he never did, he just kept right on tracking and I'm just so proud
`of him," she said.
`
`Dr. Markus has nothing but praise for Vivitrol.
`
`"I think Vivitrol is the most amazing medication that's come on the market for opiate
`addiction." He said.
`
`But this medication is still only a tool. Davis' mother knows that more than most,
`
`"They have to make changes in their life because nothing is going to change for them
`until they do that. Vivitrol's a good tool but it's not the answer. It's just a part of their
`recovery," she said.
`
`Vivitrol is not an entirely new drug. It's an injectable form of the drug naltrexone, but
`frees patients up to make a decision once a month instead of daily. Dr. Markus says it
`also gives parents the opportunity to give their offspring a longer leash, knowing they
`won't be tempted to slip up.
`
`Drug treatment with Vivitrol takes a year and is combined with behavioral therapy. It is
`only FDA approved for patients 18 years of age and older.
`
`Treatment averages about $1,100 dollars a month, but Dr. Markus says that's bargain
`compared to the costs of repeat hospitalizations, legal fees and other expenses related
`to addictions. The drug company, Alkermes, Inc., does offer a discount program to
`eligible patients.
`
`https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2015/02/12/addiction-heroin-vivitrol/23263073/
`
`2/2
`
`