Dozens of drug addicts are protesting in front of the Health Center in Konik, Podgorica, threatening to block roads if they do not receive treatment soon.
They also announced that the protest will continue today in front of the Clinical Center of Montenegro.
They claim that they have been without Buprenorphine for a full seven days after they received a notice at the door of the Health Center today.
One of the addicts with whom "Vijesti" spoke said that there is a high possibility that one of them "commits a criminal offense" because without medication they are not sane.
Addicts also claim that their dose of buprenorphine, which they received at the beginning of treatment, was not reduced.
They also say that the therapy should gradually change in accordance with their health condition, but that this has not been done for some of them for years, for which they blame the doctors of the Podgorica Health Center.
"You don't know what those pains are... This is much worse than heroin, if I had known what they gave me, I would never have taken it," one of the addicts told "Vijesta".
Addicts claim that they heard that they distributed therapy at the Clinical Center to those receiving treatment there.
"But there is none for us," say those gathered.
"Vijesti" recently wrote that addicts from Bar and Podgorica complained about the shortage of this drug in the health center in Bar and Podgorica, but "Montefarm", which supplies medical institutions with medications, claims that "Buprenorphine" was delivered on August 4 and 9 this year. They explained that the institutions are also supplied with two and eight milligram doses of the drug.
One of the addicts told "Vijesti" that eight milligrams of Buprenorphine has the effect of "five heroin".
"You can imagine the pain we are in and the condition we are in...", he told "Vijesta".
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When asked about the method and protocol of administering the therapy, they said that it changed over time.
"The administration of therapy is indefinite. Sometimes we had to drink it on the spot for one day, sometimes for three..."
The user of Buprenorphine receives the appropriate drug in a health facility in the amount approved by a medical doctor - specialist psychiatrist, taking into account the user's health condition and, if necessary, the appropriate amount of the drug.
Previously, patients received "Buprenorphine" on prescription, in state pharmacies, and since there were no protocols on dispensing, it was not clear who had the right to this medicine, what dose and under what conditions. This often led to shortages, due to abuse of this drug among heroin addicts.
Namely, many people received larger quantities of the drug on prescription, and then resold it on the black market and used that money to buy heroin...
As it was unofficially reported to "Vijesta", the situation in this matter improved, but during the pandemic, there was a renewed abuse of the drug, after the epidemic and the "lockdown" measures, patients came once a week for therapy, which was supposed to be enough for seven days. According to the sources, this continued during the previous year and this year, so it happens that the patient receives therapy that should be enough for seven days and does not receive it under the supervision of health workers.
The Podgorica Health Center announced this morning that there is no cure for heroin addicts.
The management of the Health Center states that during the regular weekly demand for the mentioned medicine, they received a reply from Montefarm that there is currently no medicine in that institution and that they do not know when it will be available.
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