The Opioid Epidemic and how to Prevent it
The Opioid epidemic has become one of America’s biggest health problem and drug crisis.
In 2017 alone, more than 47,000 people overdosed on any opioid. Comparing this to the
total number of people overdosing from any drug in 2017, which was more than 70,000,
it is very striking. Not only is this a lot of people dying from overdosing, but this trend has
only been increasing over the past decades. How could this have possibly happened though?
In 2017 alone, more than 47,000 people overdosed on any opioid. Comparing this to the
total number of people overdosing from any drug in 2017, which was more than 70,000,
it is very striking. Not only is this a lot of people dying from overdosing, but this trend has
only been increasing over the past decades. How could this have possibly happened though?
This epidemic started to occur when there was a rise in global prescription opioids in the 1990s.
The increased number of prescription of opioids occured as pharmaceutical companies
assured healthcare providers and healthcare agencies that opioids were not addictive and
that they can actually help cure the most difficult to treat types of pain. However, this was
blatantly untrue, which lead to increased diversion and misuse of these medications. As the
number of prescriptions of opioids increased, so did opioid overdose rates. I think that this was
a complete national failure by both healthcare providers and also health care agencies that
could have blocked the increase prescription rates of opioids in the first place.
The increased number of prescription of opioids occured as pharmaceutical companies
assured healthcare providers and healthcare agencies that opioids were not addictive and
that they can actually help cure the most difficult to treat types of pain. However, this was
blatantly untrue, which lead to increased diversion and misuse of these medications. As the
number of prescriptions of opioids increased, so did opioid overdose rates. I think that this was
a complete national failure by both healthcare providers and also health care agencies that
could have blocked the increase prescription rates of opioids in the first place.
There are different methods that National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) are using to combat against the opioid epidemic. This
includes increasing the access of opioid reversing drugs such as naloxone, improving access
to treatment and recovery for opioid abuse, providing more support for addiction, creating
opioid abuse deterrent formulations or non-addictive formulations, and having health care
providers be cognizant of patients who want to abuse opioids and determining whether an
opioid is the actual appropriate choice to treat a patient’s pain. Even though there are
increases in support for addiction and also increased access to naloxone, I think that there
is still a huge stigma with drug addiction and that many people do not believe that this
support works or even should be offered. However, I believe that the US should increase
access to all of these even further and that opioids should only be used as a last resort.
There are plenty of other medications or non-pharmacologic therapies that can be used to
help treat pain.
of Health and Human Services (HHS) are using to combat against the opioid epidemic. This
includes increasing the access of opioid reversing drugs such as naloxone, improving access
to treatment and recovery for opioid abuse, providing more support for addiction, creating
opioid abuse deterrent formulations or non-addictive formulations, and having health care
providers be cognizant of patients who want to abuse opioids and determining whether an
opioid is the actual appropriate choice to treat a patient’s pain. Even though there are
increases in support for addiction and also increased access to naloxone, I think that there
is still a huge stigma with drug addiction and that many people do not believe that this
support works or even should be offered. However, I believe that the US should increase
access to all of these even further and that opioids should only be used as a last resort.
There are plenty of other medications or non-pharmacologic therapies that can be used to
help treat pain.
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