The Tennessee
Cost-Effectiveness Case

The Challenge

Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) creates a staggering fiscal and social burden on the state of Tennessee. The current Standard of Care (SOC) relies on long-term medication maintenance, which often results in high cumulative costs, persistent relapse risks, and ongoing productivity losses. To address this, we developed a deterministic semi-Markov model to evaluate the long-term economic and clinical viability of a front-loaded Ibogaine treatment program compared to traditional maintenance.

The Economic Edge

The results indicate that Ibogaine is economically dominant. By investing in a high-intensity, time-limited intervention—including specialized monitoring and a 60-day counseling course—the model projects a total cost savings of $397,884 per person. This is driven by a massive reduction in direct healthcare spending ($185k saved) and a significant boost in societal productivity ($212k saved), as patients transition from chronic maintenance to durable recovery.

The Human Dividend

Beyond the balance sheet, Ibogaine delivers superior health outcomes. The study projects a 5.8% increase in survival rates and a gain of 2.43 Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) per patient compared to standard care. These figures suggest that Ibogaine doesn't just lower costs—it fundamentally improves the trajectory of human life.