FILE - Tabs of buprenorphine, a drug which controls heroin and opioid cravings, are photographed in Greenfield, Mass., on July 23, 2018. It’s easier than ever for doctors to prescribe buprenorphine, a gold standard medicine for opioid addiction, since the U.S. government lifted barriers in January 2023. But despite the looser restrictions and a continuing overdose crisis, a new study finds little change in the number of patients taking the medication, according to findings published Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in the New England Journal of Medicine. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)