Overdoses Essay

Drug overdose from medications designed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are on the rise. This is likely due to an overwhelming amount of children, nearly 3 million, prescribed medication for ADHD each year (Spiller, Hays, & Aleguas, 2013). ADHD affects nearly 10% of the national population and is rising due to newer diagnostic criteria (Levine, et al., 2013). In the past, ADHD was only diagnosed in school aged children, but new studies suggest that diagnosis can be made in the preschool age as well (Levine, et al., 2013). Because of the new age criteria affecting more young children, the number of prescription of ADHD drugs will rise each year which will increase the amount of ADHD prescription overdose (Adis, 2014).

Heroin and opioids have grown in appearance in communities. Since, 2008 in Allegheny County alone there was more than two thousand overdose deaths, with one hundred-seventy-seven deaths in this year alone (Pennsylvania). Furthermore, in 2015 there was only one -hundred-twenty-six;

Heroin, a powerful narcotic, acts upon the brain as a painkiller, increasing physical addiction and ongoing emotional dependence (Schaffer Library of…). Heroin has many challenging and highly risky effects on the user, all the more hazardous if overdosing is present. This extremely dangerous drug, heroin, will never cease being used, but may cease the existence of an individual.

Last year there were over 64,000 reported opioid-related deaths in the United States – making it the leading cause of accidental death in people under the age of 50 in this country (Katz). Opioids, also referred to as painkillers, have become a growing problem over the past two decades particularly in rural communities all across the country where the death rates are higher per capita compared to the death rate in cities (“America’s Opioid Epidemic is Worsening”). These narcotics, such as codeine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, morphine and oxycodone are extremely addictive and, as a result, this silent killer has quadrupled the overdose death toll since 1999

Substance use and misuse has been a societal problem for centuries. Kentucky, specifically has struggled with prescription drug abuse over the last 20 years, and “Kentucky has the highest rates of illicit opioid use than the nation for all age groups” (REACH of Louisville, 2011, p. 4) not to mention the “highest drug overdose death rates in the country, at 17.9 per 100,000 people; ranking sixth highest in the nation” (Cordini,

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.

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 in the United States. With an increase of 137 percent since 2000, deaths from drug overdoses now occur 1.5 times more often than deaths from motor vehicle accidents (Rudd Aleshire, Zibbell & Gladden, 2016). The opioid epidemic in the

As we learned in class last week, victimless crime can be one of many things. Victimless crime is defined as a crime taking place where there are no harmful injuries done from one person to another. Instead, the damage being done is committed by the individual who is committing the crime. Some examples of a victimless crime are, Drug use, prostitution, gambling, suicide, traffic citations and trespassing.

In my interview with LPD Pltm. Erik P he said, “When I first became a police officer for the City of Lorain in 2009 I wasn’t hearing as many calls as I do now about heroin overdoses. When I first started I hardly ever had to go to a specific location to help out a citizen with an overdose problem. Now, just about every day that I work I get dispatched to “Assist with LifeCare with Overdose” call. Whenever I’m on shift I’m always hearing an overdose call. Sometimes dispatch comes over the radio saying that the 911 call came from their child. That’s really heartbreaking that those kids are experiencing their parent or parents overdose right in front of them. I can’t imagine what the child is thinking about when their parents are overdosing. Now

As a result on this alarming phenomenon, deaths related to drug overdose saw a material spike upwards as recently as 2013. The number of deaths (13.2 for every 100,000 residents) earned the state the dubious honor of being ranked #19 in the nation for said deaths. In order to keep these numbers from getting worse, residents and their representatives need to start working together to develop prevention programs while making sure those who are suffering from an addiction have reasonable access to treatment and

Dana Farinick, a 22 year old young woman, had her entire life ahead of her. However, she suffered from drug addiction and went to several rehabilitation centers, therapists, and more. Despite all the programs she was enrolled in, Dana still suffered from relapses, and eventually met her death due to an overdose. Her parents found her dead on the kitchen floor of their home (Farinick). This is the result of drug abuse, the untimely death of individuals young and old. The opioid crisis is a disastrous pandemic that caused 250,000 deaths between 2000 and 2014 (“Opioid Crisis”). The opioid crisis is the abuse of prescription, legal, and illegal drugs, causing death among youth and adults. There are many underlying issues in regards to the opioid crisis, one of which is marijuana use. By reducing marijuana abuse the opioid crisis can be lowered, this can be achieved through schools no longer using D.A.R.E., recovery schools being made, and increasing the legal age for recreational marijuana consumption.

How does Temazepam work, and what are the indications for its prescription? What are the onset, duration and peak of the drug?

The key to preventing fatal pediatric overdose is to develop a plan Community Hospital should follow. The pediatric –specific strategy for reducing medication errors by establishing and maintaining a functional pediatric formulary system with policies for drug evaluation, limit the number if dose strengths and concentrations of high alert medications to a minimum, oral syringes should be used to administer oral medication as well as oral syringes being used to prepare oral medications. Base on this article Sentinel Event Alert example medication error occur in a high rate with pediatric patient base of the weight-based calculation.

In this sad, cruel world you see drug overdoses are quite common. In 2015, there has already been four-hundred deaths due to drug overdoses just in the Dayton Area. Dayton is ranked number one in drug overdoses. While knowing people who have been in the hand of addiction, I truly cannot comprehend losing someone to drugs. You can be lectured repetively about the consequences and having the ability to comprehend the science the brain and drugs combined, but until you see the effects drugs have and the consequences it holds, you will learn. Unfortunately for Rhonda Jerman she went through a similar situation.

Over the years the drug overdose epidemic in McDowell County has amplified significantly. Therefore, causing a negative influence on the young adult population. By means of the education drive has declined and the poverty levels rising. As an Emergency Room nurse I have unfortunately witnessed this tragedy first hand.