Prescription Painkiller Abuse

Prescription painkiller abuse is a rising issue throughout the world. Although these issues are still misunderstood, this is exceedingly dangerous to patients who take painkillers. “In 2007, for example, abuse of the painkiller Fentanyl killed more than 1,000 people. The drug was found to be thirty to fifty times more powerful than heroin.”(Foundation for drug free world, n.d.) The line between appropriate use of painkillers and abusing a painkiller is basically invisible.
To start, let’s analyze why people abuse prescription painkillers? “, By survey, almost 50% of teens believe that taking prescription drugs is much safer than using illegal street drugs.”(Foundation for Drug Free World, n.d.) These reasoning skills aren’t only shown in

teens, but in most young adults who have lived on a college campus. A college campus is the perfect place for peer pressure, students are pressured into drug experimenting, the newest “trend” would be Adderall. “Adderall is a widely used drug that’s prescribed to treat ADHD in adults, teens and children; however, it’s also part of a growing trend of prescription drugs that are abused in the US. Many use Adderall in an attempt to help them academically.”(Rehabs.com, n.d.) This drug is known to cause plenty of health issues from chest pains to heart attacks, strokes, and sudden death.
Now, who would be at fault for this addiction up rise? It is a doctor’s ethical duty to reject a patient if they are thought to be addicted to the drug that is being given. The Big pharma’s role in drug abuse has become more and more pronoun, everyday people getting more drugs for business purposes rather than the healing that some need. This causes pharmacies everywhere to “skyrocket” up the power chain. “As direct marketing laws regarding prescription drugs began to relax over a decade ago, the drugs themselves became increasingly viewed as a commodity rather than a treatment. This catalyst allowed pharmaceutical companies to grow into powerful money-making juggernauts – it was the birth of “big pharma.”(M, Berry, 2015) Pharmacies are now thought to be based more on money, rather than the treatment of patient’s pains.