Long Term Recovery Case Study

As mentioned before, the medicalization of many diseases in America has lead to the introduction of novel prescription medications, jobs, and explanations for strange behaviors. Using the example of ADD, many pharmaceutical companies revenues increased due to the number of prescriptions prescribed for Adderall etc., not to mention physician’s income for prescribing each medication. Parents can now easily explain to teachers why their kid cannot pay close enough attention for long periods of time and have a quick fix for the exceptionally hyperactive child. These same concepts apply to the medicalization of addiction. Physicians, pharmaceutical companies, and rehab centers profit from the disease concept and the addict in withdrawal. Family and friends have an easier time accepting and explaining a medical condition instead of a loved one that has changed because of drug use. Also, the user themselves has many more resources in today’s society in comparison to being criminalized. Truthfully, only the user that does not seek or want treatment seems to not

The entire country is facing a serious drug abuse epidemic, and Appalachia sees the effects of this epidemic as much or more than any other part of the country. As the coal industry dies, jobs are disappearing much more quickly than new industries are able to replace the jobs that have been lost. This is causing many Appalachian citizens to turn to other means of producing an income, whether they are legal or not. One of the most popular sources of illegal income in Appalachia is the drug trade, more specifically, the trade of prescription drugs. In the 1990s, many pharmaceutical companies began aggressively marketing their new prescription drugs such as OxyContin and other prescription pain killers to the citizens of Appalachia for the abundance of work related injuries from the dangerous jobs they have done their entire lives. Heroin has also recently become a drug of choice

In the article, “Don’t blame addicts for America’s opioid crisis. Here are the real culprits” by Chris McGreal, America’s widespread opioid problem is discussed. Primarily, McGreal points the finger at multiple sources such as the FDA, pharmaceutical companies, and the government for aggravating the opioid problem. According to the author, “America’s opioid crisis was caused by rapacious pharma companies, politicians who colluded with them and regulators who approved one opioid pill after another” (McGreal). However, McGreal believes that there are multiple causes for the deadly opioid epidemic that exists today. Next, McGreal states that money is one of the main reasons for the epidemic of opioids. The author asserts that patients are given

March 23, 2010 is a significant date for the United States. Following a long and controversial political and legislative process President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law. This pushed for the most significant changes to the United States health care system since Medicare and Medicaid back in 1965. The main stance of the act is to offer affordable benefits for all people including those who cant afford it. The Affordable Care Act includes a series of reforms that positively expand on the existing system of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI). It creates new requirements for individuals, employers, health care providers, and insurance companies (French, 2016). The ACA includes multiple strategies to target different populations and increase insurance coverage. It has offered many changes to medical benefits, treatments, as well as the quality of life. Specifically under the ACA, benefits for those who are struggling with a substance use disorder are mandated. One of those expansions in the ACA is the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Advanced Recovery, 2016). This act ensures that insurance companies offer coverage for mental health disorders and treatment. A brief yet significant statement in the ACA states those with substance use disorders will be classified as suffering from a mental health disorder. The coverage for those who have struggled with an addiction allows for understanding on how

The opioid epidemic that has taken over the United States is likely the largest public health crisis that our country has faced in the 21st century. It has torn countless families and small rural communities apart in its wake, and does not currently show signs of slowing down anytime in the near future. In the last couple decades, the United States’ government has addressed the epidemic as a criminal problem. Treating those affected by the opioid crisis like criminals has not yielded positive results overall. For some time, the public opinion has predominantly been that this epidemic should not be blamed on anyone other than those who take these opioids, and that it is their own personal downfalls and bad judgement that is responsible for their specific situation. While opioid abusers certainly deserve some accountability for their actions, there is abundant evidence of greater forces at work that have a lot of influence on their decisions.

The policymakers below have played a considerable role in the development, implementation and support of the laws directed towards the opioid epidemic. They are Republican, conservative, and their personal view on the opioid epidemic is undisputed. Each believes a response is needed across all levels of government with strong leadership from the private sector inclusive of pharmaceutical companies and prescribers ("Compact," 2016). Few differences exist among the policymakers thereby simplifying their view and voting record comparisons. A brief

There has been an expectation of society that substance abuse treatment should eliminate alcohol and illicit drug use while improving individual health and social functioning as to reduce the public safety threat. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 also known as Obama Care was created with intentions of expanding the availability of health insurance. In 2011 the President’s National Drug Control Strategy requested investments in screening, intervention and referral to treatment, and expanded the Access to Recovery voucher program. These initiatives are a start towards total care for alcohol and substance abuse patients, however from our study we have found that treatment may be best when considered as a long term possibly life resource for these individuals to become successfully sober and healthy.

ESSENCE OF THE STORY: In the past few years, opioid addiction has become an epidemic in the United States leading to around 64,000 people dying from drug overdose in 2016 alone. As a result the health and human services secretary, Mr. Azar, and the F.D.A. chief, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, has made battling opioid addiction a top priority. The main way the F.D.A. is attempting to battle the epidemic is by allowing pharmaceutical companies to sell new types of medications that aren’t meant to stop addiction but to help suppress the cravings of addiction. The new medication that the F.D.A is approving is supposed to be a part of the program MAT, or medication-assisted-treatment. Mr. Azar as well as Dr. Scott have been pushing for more MAT in hope to help people with addiction live productive lives. Though like most big changes in society, the F.D.A’s decision has drawn criticism. Addiction experts are saying that new medication isn’t the solution but more access to the medication is.

The author will discuss the 21st Century Cures Act, the evolution of the Act, possible changes that can be made to policy regarding treatment of drug addiction and barriers to the proposed changes.

The original purpose of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was to address the rising amount of healthcare cost in the United States, and substantially increase the amount of Americans insured with access to affordable healthcare. The ACA allows for the expansion of Medicaid; the government health insurance program, which is designed to increase enrollees for low income families in Medicaid. With this new legislation people who are under the age of 65 who are at or below 133 percent of the poverty line will have access to Medicaid. Anyone who earns below 400 percent of the poverty line will qualify for subsidies for health insurance. (Cockburn, 7) Americans who earn above this level must either buy insurance, or use their employer’s coverage. This is a huge implication because the estimated of new enrollees in 2014 estimated by the Congressional Budget Office is between 16 and 17 million. The federal government has agreed to finance this expansion of Medicaid for the first three years of implementation, for states that agree to the program. After these three years the states will have to start to pay a small portion of Medicaid. Many people with substance abuse problems, and mental disorders without insurance, are low income earning childless adults. (Bainbridge, 5)Under the ACA these Americans now have access to behavioral health treatment, in the 26

Hillary Clinton’s campaign notes that “nearly 23 million Americans suffer from a substance use disorder”, but only “one in ten receive treatment” (Addiction). In prisons, “sixty-five percent of people” meet the “medical criteria for substance use disorder”, but “lack access to proper treatment” (Hillary Clinton’s Initiative). Clinton’s policy that proposes a solution to this issue is prioritizing the rehabilitation of nonviolent drug offenders, rather than the incarceration of them, and giving them access to treatment in prison and out of prison. This will be done through increasing the “investment in local programs that” send people “to treatment instead of the criminal justice system” (Hillary Clinton’s Initiative ). Along with this, her

one method for looking into approaches is by supervision. When I have supervision with the recovery colleagues I inquire as to whether there is any preparation that they believe they have to empower them to carry out their occupations legitimately and effectively. This enhances their nature of work. They reveal to me what they feel is successful while completing their parts and it is a chance to check whether there are elective ways that can be attempted practically speaking.

Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) have the obligation to their patients and to their profession to engage in the political process at some level (Zaccagnini & White, 2015). According to Chism (2013), having both leadership and clinical experience as well as the foundation in research and evidence-based practice puts APNs in a position that could produce a great impact on healthcare policies at various levels. The occurrence of prescription opioid overdose is steadily rising in the United States (US). Several measures have been implemented to control the mortality arising from this issue, but as of present not one measure has been successfully implemented nationwide. As a future APN, the author is taking an active role in healthcare policy by analyzing a bill that has not yet been approved by the 114th Congress. This paper will: a) examine a healthcare issue that the proposed bill aims to resolve; b) identify the social, economic, ethical, political, and legal factors affecting the issue; c) identify the policy stakeholders; d)discuss the proposed healthcare policy; e) evaluate the pros and cons of the policy, and g) make a recommendation as to whether or not the policy should be enacted.

Avik Roy of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research wrote an editorial last September in USA Today titled “Not Affordable Care Act: Opposing View” (Roy). In his editorial, he argued, “it (the Affordable Care Act) mandates that insurers cover services that the government deems ‘essential’, such as drug-addiction therapy, that most people don't need.” Contrary to Roy’s opinion, health care reform that includes drug-addiction therapy is not only critical, but necessary, as our nation deals with the harsh realities of overdoses related to heroin and prescription pain killers. The services required to be covered by health insurers under Obamacare for people struggling with substance abuse will come as a

The so-called “War on Drugs,” as declared by the Nixon administration in the signing of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, marked the beginning of the current era of mandatory minimum sentencing, racism, privatized prisons, and a powerful constituency that profits as a result of the prohibition of drugs. Psychoactive substances have been apart of the human experience as long as humans have walked the earth. There is little hope that drug production will ever be curtailed, so long as there is a demand; a demand that has remained steady even though it has been forty years since the beginning of said war. As Judge James P. Gray from the Superior Court of Orange County has so plainly put it: “Where did this policy