Prescription Opioid Abuse: An Increasing Epidemic with Solutions in Prescribing The rate of poisonings associated with drug overdoses has been on the rise, especially concerning those involving opioids (Paulozzie, Budnitz, & Xi, 2006). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not mince words regarding the status of opioid utilization in the United States: ?The United States is in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic? (CDC, 2016). Opioids are now the most common cause of prescription
Contributing to the Opioid Epidemic in America If you watch the news it should come as no surprise that drug abuse and overdoses have increased dramatically in the United States. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, as many as 36 million people abuse opioids throughout the world with 2.1 million in the U.S. who currently suffer from opioid abuse disorders (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014). These astonishing numbers are only marginalized when comparing them to opioid related deaths
Narcotic Epidemic in America Opioid medications are frequently prescribed for severe pain. Opioids includes the pain medications like oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, and fentanyl as well as the illegal drug heroin (American Society of Addiction Medication, 2016). Many people rely on these drugs to relieve their pain from surgery, active cancer, chronic pain and end of life care (WebMD, 2017). Studies from the 2012 National Health Interview show that over 11% of adults report having chronic pain
Drug Abuse on the Rise in the Community “In 2014, nearly two million Americans either abused or were dependent on prescription opioid pain relievers (“Injury Prevention and Control: Opioid Overdose,” 2016.)” The CDC is now saying that the United States is in an epidemic. The purpose of this paper is to explore the increasing drug use in the United States over the last decade. The primary focus is on the administration of opioid analgesics and the addicting mechanisms of these medications, and what
Prescription drug abuse has reached epidemic proportions. President Trump has deemed the United States addiction to prescription opiates a national crisis (Dye). Recent estimates suggest nearly two percent of Americans have at one time abused prescription medication. Prescription drug addiction results in families torn apart, many lives destroyed, and in too many cases, death. Some people think that by solely focusing on prescription drug abuse, physicians may steer clear from prescribing necessary
The exploitation and overdoses of opioids, which includes morphine, heroin, and other pain medicines, is a serious public health epidemic in the United States. This constant maltreatment of these drugs by individuals has caused them their lives and misery to their families. According to the National Institute of Health on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “ In 2013, 1.9 million people suffered from substance use disorders related to opioid medicines and 517,000 suffered from a heroin use disorder.” There have also
In the years of the renaissances, the growing epidemic of the world was the bubonic plague, or in the early 20th century, the “Spanish Flu”. The epidemic of today's world, however, isn’t a disease, it's opioid abuse. With a death from opioid abuse every 17 minutes, that makes heroin and opioid abuse cause more deaths than car accidents in the United States (The Opioid Crisis). That’s 47,000 lives lost a year. The release of a new drug known as Narcan is meant to bring down the vast 47,000 lives lost
improve the health and well-being of an individual. Oxycontin, an opioid drug, is meant to help people manage their pain symptoms; however, many people are unaware that there is a danger of abuse of receiving drugs prescribed by their physicians. The essays “How to Create an Addiction” and “Erin Daly: OxyWatchdog” by Cynthia Andrzejczyk explore the problem of prescription drugs in the United States. Since 1999, prescription drug epidemic in the United States has been killing 15,000 people every year
An epidemic is on the rise and is hitting closer to home than one may expect. From the hospitals to the pharmacies and the medicine cabinets of many Americans, the damage prescription opioids are causing have been detrimental. Prescription opioids being medication that is meant to alleviate extreme pain, has induced more damage into the users life with its controversial side effects, and death in an abundant amount of cases. The issue revolving around prescription opioids does not just stay within
Prescription drugs are being used for nonmedical purposes and it is becoming so common that it has been deemed an epidemic. Literature suggest that prescription drug abuse among college students is high. This could be due to the stressful environments college students are placed in. Prescription drugs will be discussed broadly but in some instances, limited to opioids. Many people are prescribed medication on a daily basis and not everyone uses them as they are intended. What happens to the leftover