CNN stated, “One person dies every 19 minutes from a prescription drug overdose in the United States.” In an effort to combat misuse and abuse of prescription drugs, the Food and Drug Administration is proposing new restrictions that would change the rules for some normally prescribed narcotic painkillers (Bentz).
The increase of addiction to prescription drugs has increased over the past few years. As a result the amount of pharmacy robberies has amplified as well. Certain patients are going to multiple physicians in order to get controlled prescriptions; this is called “doctor shopping.” They are then filling the prescriptions at different pharmacies by paying “out of pocket,” without insurance. Filling prescriptions without insurance and at different pharmacies allows patients to get the medications more frequently. Insurance companies usually limit people from filling prescriptions early (before their medication runs out). It has been too simple to get control prescriptions from doctors in this day and age. Physicians have been arrested for writing narcotic prescriptions unnecessarily and too easily. Some patients even steal prescription pads from the doctor’s offices, in order to write their own prescriptions for controlled medications. It is the pharmacist’s role to spot these “fake” prescriptions. This is a vicious cycle and it needs to be stopped.
Finally in 2012, a law named the Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing (I-STOP) was signed in New York to help crack down on prescription drug abuse. The I-STOP law includes a series of requirements to revamp the way prescription drugs are distributed and tracked in New York. Physicians will have to check the registry for a patient’s prescription history. The I-STOP repo...
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...em is already helping to fight Long Island's pain pill abuse epidemic and imparting doctors and pharmacists with knowledge they never had access to before. Three doctors called me today who discharged patients after they learned that the patients were doctor shopping because of I-STOP, so I'd say the system is working out pretty well so far” (Deutsch).
Putting a stop to this situation puts us one step closer to decreasing the numbers of deaths caused by the prescription drug abuse epidemic. It has taken the lives of so many and we cannot sit back and let this continue to occur. This law will allow doctors and pharmacists to access the information they need to make sure that dangerous prescription drugs stay out of the wrong hands. With the new system and the increased amount of drug abuse programs there are, hopefully people can kick the habit get their lives back.
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.
Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and abuse is founded greater in the prescription opiate based painkillers.
The United States of America accounts for only 5% of the world’s population, yet as a nation, we devour over 50% of the world’s pharmaceutical medication and around 80% of the world’s prescription narcotics (American Addict). The increasing demand for prescription medication in America has evoked a national health crisis in which the government and big business benefit at the expense of the American public.
Various pharmaceutical companies are resisting the changes by lobbying against the legislation that requires a prescription. This was the second most disturbing part of the video to me because these companies care far more about money and profits than the wellbeing and safety of the American people. This documentary offers a plan of action to take in reducing the number of meth related crimes and incidents in the United States. Other states should follow Oregon’s model by making legislation that
Attention getter: As quoted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an average of three Oregonians dies every week from prescription opioid overdose, and many more develop opioid use disorder.
If medical providers are not able to prescribe medications based on an individual's needs, an individual will go into his or her community to locate and purchase medications. This practice can be dangerous, as it is an unregulated amount of medication which can lead to an opioid overdose. Depending on the need of medication from individuals in the community, members will be prescribed medication and then sell their medication at an increased price.Many individuals will have multiple providers for opioid pain relievers and will even fake the need to visit an emergency room.
The repeated use of drugs often causes both physical and psychological dependence, as mentioned in an article by the Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (“Drug Dependence”). In order for an individual to truly be set free from their addiction, seeking treatment is necessary. Rehab centers are a great place with scientifically proven methods to cure those addicted to drugs. It is important to try to end drug use in our country, rather than allowing it to continue longer than it already has. While funding for rehabilitation facilities could become an issue, drug users may continue their addiction without proper treatment, and therefore those arrested for drug use should be sent to a rehabilitation center instead of prison.
Fatal complications occur from regular use, for example, liver damage, seizures, elevated blood pressure causing stroke, heart failure, or heart attack. Another growing fad in the United States is the abuse of prescription drugs. The abuse is being done by not only adults, but by teens. The most current trend today is the misuse of cough syrups and prescription medications to produce a “high.” Other medications abused today are stimulants (Ritalin), and benzodiazepines (Xanax).
...d has cut down the illegal distribution of prescription drugs. It cuts down on medical costs for the patient by allowing the physician to view what insurance coverage the patient carries for certain medications and. providing lists of similar generic drugs. E-prescribing is just one part of U.S. government’s goal to gradually adopting standards facilitating the shift to all electronic medical records for citizens. Although it has only been available for a short time, electronic-prescribing has already made an impressively large impact on the medical field.
The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such. Not to mention the fact that the doctors who prescribe these opioids often tend to misuse them as well. Abusing these prescribed drugs can “destroy dreams and abort great destinies," and end the possibility of the abuser to have a positive impact in the community.
Gandey, Allison. “New National Drug Control Policy Includes More Prescription Monitoring.” Medscape Today. Web MD, 7 May 2010. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. .
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
Doctors and pharmacist plays a major role in responsibilities towards this issue. By being aware and by giving knowledge to both the prescribers and the patients this problem could be solved. According to the National Institutes of Health, these addictions contribute to more than 100,000 deaths per year in the United States ("Addiction."). According to Milan Stojanovic, an anesthesiologist “There is a huge amount of abuse of these medications, all over the country and it starts with someone, somewhere writing a prescription” (qtd. in Devi 474).
According to the guidelines under the DFWA, any grant or federal funded organization must update their current policies to implement the drug free workplace requirements as well as develop awareness programs which address the potential use of dr...
West Virginia has one of the highest rates for prescription drug abuse, and overdose in the nation. In order to change this it is important to understand what pharmacists do, their role in prevention, and the severity of prescription drug abuse. Pharmacists are known to dispense prescription drugs to patients and inform them about their use; However, one aspect of their career most people overlook is that Pharmacists must keep a sharp eye out for criminals looking to abuse these prescribed drugs.