From as early as the 1990s, there has been statistical data to show that the opioid addiction epidemic has seen its significant amount of overdose death rates, sales and substance abuse of these prescription pain relievers increased over time. Regarding an outstandingly high concentration of opioid use in areas such as Delaware, Washington D.C, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, the United States has currently approximately that now as many as 20.1 million Americans addicted to some type of opioid (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Some of these most commonly prescribed opioid that is provided to some patients are Oxycodone, Vicodin and Percocet to effectively reduce chronic pain symptoms for either a short or long period …show more content…
As evidence has shown that Buprenorphine is the most common form of medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction chosen by doctors in the United States covered under Medicare, it also means that prescription drug plan patients need to be screened and closely monitored for tendencies of misuses or abuse (JBS International, Inc, 2006). Americans who receive this form of assisted treatment, with controlled limited daily dosages, it minimizes the possibilities of relapse to opioid use and overdose, by preventing the powerful cravings and withdrawals. Another high-quality medication to battle opioid addiction incorporates Naltrexone and Suboxone treatments, which are much less dangerous and addicting to reduce the pain for individuals, families, and …show more content…
departments began to commit to a better public health approach with numerous policy recommendations, statutory actions, public health interventions, and various laws that regulate pain management clinics being implemented. As states adapted to policy clinical guidelines for pain care and opioid prescribing, they were soon introduced to state prescription drug monitoring programs, which would ultimately discontinue prescription opioids when patients show signs of poorly controlled or no physical, functional, or improvement in opioid treatment. The implementation of drug monitoring programs decreased patients who may be at risk for drug misuse or addiction, by helping healthcare professionals to intervene at an early
Prescription and pharmaceutical drug abuse is beginning to expand as a social issue within the United States because of the variety of drugs, their growing availability, and the social acceptance and peer pressure to uses them. Many in the workforce are suffering and failing at getting better due to the desperation driving their addiction.
The documentary states that over 27,000 deaths a year are due to overdose from heroin and other opioids. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015 prescription pain relievers account for 20,101 overdose deaths, and 12,990 overdose deaths are related to heroin (Rudd et al., 2010-2015). The documentary’s investigation gives the history of how the heroin epidemic started, with a great focus on the hospice movement. We are presented with the idea that once someone is addicted to painkillers, the difficulty in obtaining the drug over a long period of time becomes too expensive and too difficult. This often leads people to use heroin. This idea is true as a 2014 survey found that 94% of respondents who were being treated for opioid addiction said they chose to use heroin because prescription opioids were “more expensive and harder to obtain (Cicero et al., 2014).” Four in five heroin users actually started out using prescription painkillers (Johns, 2013). This correlation between heroin and prescription painkiller use supports the idea presented in the documentary that “prescription opiates are heroin prep school.”
This leads to the second school of thought on medically assisted treatment. There has been a great deal of debate about the medication used to treat Opiate addiction, methadone. Many feel that the drug methadone is simply trading one drug in for another, as the addiction to methadone is quick and almost more powerful than an opiate addiction (Nelson, 1994). The withdrawals effects are far more intense with methadone and for this reason it is a lifetime maintenance medication. Some suggest that more rehabilitative programs are needed that would address the social problems the users have to help them recover, instead of the methadone program that is viewed...
Drug addiction doesn 't result from medical use and it is supported as well by Sees & Clark (1993). The drug brings optimal treatment to patients who are in pain. Gilson et al. (2004) also advised that its effects are predictable due to medical purpose and removing it may cause an unacceptable harm to a patient. Addiction and misuse of opioid medication depends on the period of usage. As according to Compton & Volkow (2006), the longer the drug is exposed to an individual, the higher the possibility for development of addiction as well. The access as well nowadays for the drug is openly easy for the public. There have been occasions that physicians are no longer needed for the prescription of the drug; hence it becomes an illicit drug. In recent studies the frequency of analgesic misuse or addiction ranges from 5% to as much of 50% of different
A young mother suffers a heroin overdose. She lays lifeless amid the aisle of a Massachusetts Family Dollar, and the cries of her daughter erupt upon social media, for a bystander recorded the distressing incident. A hopeful young man, one week following his rehabilitation discharge, died inside of his Colorado home, overdosing on sedatives and opioids. (The Opioid Crisis, Peter Katel). The heroin and opioid crisis continually fluctuates within the United States, and many experts contemplate whether unique programs and medical institutions can provide for these abusers and evade a steady growth in the opioid epidemic. Concepts to reduce the opioid crisis include promoting awareness of opioid history, establishing safe-injection sites, advocating
A retrospective cohort study found that there was a causal relationship between previous drug abuse and opioid abuse when opioids are used for chronic pain management. Therefore, the study determined previous drug abuse as the most significant risk factor regarding potential opioid abuse with a relative risk of 3.3.1 However, the study made no mention in its “methods” section of corrections for any confounding variables that may have greatly affected the data. One such confounding variable that needs to be adjusted for is severity of pain that each patient was experiencing. The likely result of an individual who has a more severe level of pain will be that of increased and prolonged use of opioids. Those with high levels of pain may experience a greater psychological dependence on opioids to cope with pain and lead a normal life. Consequently, the psychological dependence on opioids will lead to a physical addiction and abuse of opioids.
(2005) assessed 288 chronic pain patients that had a history of opiate use of a period over eight months at an outpatient VA pain clinic. On average, participants aged 54.8 years old ranging from 25-88 with 93% resulting in males and 7% in females. Common pain diagnoses were indicated as back pain, neck pain, extremity pain, headaches, neuropathic pain, and other. For assessments, each client completed a Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD), Oswestry Disability Index 2.0, Prescription Drug Use Questionnaire, Pain Intensity and Relief Assessment, Medication Beliefs Self-Report, and Substance Abuse and Psychiatric History report at the initial visit with examination of their medical records. The assessments indicated the participants’ anxiety and depression levels, pain levels, beliefs of medication use, and history of reported substance abuse with opiate
The roaring opiate epidemic in America continues destroying the addicted person and the very thing that plays an intricate part in returning to society as productive members; families and communities. Over the years, the opiate family has been helpful for individuals who suffer with chronic pain from severe issues such as cancer, gunshot pain, broken bones and even as simple as dental surgery (Sheahen, 2017 p.362). This literature review focuses on the prevalence of the substance user that overtime would need family and community support as well as treatment to recover. Despite this, managing pain can be difficult for even the non-addicted person and several factors should be considered when doctors are prescribing.
Opiates are a class of drugs like heroin, oxycodone, codeine, fentanyl and morphine. For many clients, an opioid addiction begins with prescription opiates. Over time, family and friends may notice opioid addiction signs. As the addiction worsens, the individual may turn to illicit drugs to achieve the same high.
Yet, many become addicted unintentionally, The Recovery Village reports, “By the time they no longer need the drugs for their pain, however, opiates have taken hold in the brain and cause a physical dependence starting an opiate addiction.” Since first introduced, many health care providers have been over exposing patients to new opioid options: Oxycodone, Fentanyl, Meperidine, etc. Doctors are well aware of the many alternatives to narcotic pain medication. Many adolescents are being prescribed opioids for pain relief, but end up becoming addicted. Putting these medications at the hands of young patients can lead them to misuse them, such as sharing with friends and overdosing. As stated by the American Society of Addiction Medicine, “People often share their unused pain relievers, unaware of the dangers of nonmedical opioid use. Most adolescents who misuse prescription pain relievers are given them for free by a friend or relative.” Society sees these pain medications as acceptable just because they are prescribed and recommended by a doctor. According to a national survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2016, 116 people died every day from opioid-related
The previously denoted “Opioid Crisis” has reached the level of an epidemic and has thus captured the attention of the entire nation (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Opioids, which include a variety of drugs from OxyContin to heroin, are most commonly introduced to people as prescription pain-relievers. Opioid-based drugs, however, are extremely addictive. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, eight to twelve percent of opioid users develop a disorder. This results in large number of addicted patients, who then, following the termination of their prescription, seek out ways to feed their addiction with more opioids. The severity of the issue grows as the number of addicts rises, and with that, the number of overdoses.
In the present day there is a harsh stigma towards the use of opioid narcotic medication. Stories of addiction and overdose are passed around. The media is brimming with panic over the use of these medications. By and large, this can be seen as more of an overdose crisis than an opioid crisis. Federal and medical guidelines for prescribing opioid medications have changed drastically over the last several years because of this epidemic. Unfortunately, due to the increasing level of abuse that these medications are associated with, people with chronic pain are untreated, undermedicated, and suffering. Opiate narcotics, when used properly by responsible patients, are invaluable in alleviating acute or chronic cases of moderate to severe pain.
All opioids are highly addictive and dangerous to give to anyone in any type of pain. The promotion of them should be outlawed and the sales restricted and regulated across the United States to those who really need them. Extensive research can conclude that this epidemic is fast growing and effects people from all walks of life. This being every race, gender and age throughout all fifty states, making this problem extremely difficult and unable to isolate toa certain demographic group. These drugs are being prescribed for all types of pain ranging from a simple cavity repair to something as complex as brain cancer. This diversity must be stopped if there is going to be any progress to resolve this problem affecting more than 1 in 3 Americans in 2015 alone. For those currently using opioids it can be very difficult to stop, and that is why so many people are still using. Even if sobered before, there is a very high percentage for relapsing. So the only real solution to see results is to completely outlaw the promotion of opioids, lowering the problem of addiction
I feel the biggest public health problem that is having the greatest impact on lives everywhere is opiate addiction. According to the substance abuse and mental health services administration (SAMHSA, 2016) in 2014, 28,647 of drug overdose deaths involved some type of opioid, including heroin . Overdoses are becoming prevalent in every community. The initiation of most addictions are brought on by the prescribed analgesics like oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl, and methadone (SAMHSA, 2016). Drug addiction in general is a problem, but opiates are on the increase and are destroying many families.
In today’s society many patients are prescribed painkillers to help with chronic pain, however many people abuse these prescription painkillers. Hydrocodone and oxycodone, two of the higher dosages of painkillers, are by far most abused by ones that have no medical reason for taking them. These painkillers give a sense of euphoria or intense happiness which makes them especially addictive in today’s society. Painkiller addiction is dangerous because it tears apart a person’s life, and he or she could become completely dependent on the drug. It could control their days to the point where they cannot function without them. Keep in mind that these prescription painkillers are also the leading cause of overdoses in the United States, for ones who