Opioid-Related Overdose

Mike Alstott knows first-hand how opioids, when used correctly, can play an important role in managing pain and helping people to function, but he is also keenly aware of the growing crisis of opioid misuse and overdose. More American adults are dying from misusing prescription narcotics than ever before. An estimated 35 people die every day in the U.S. from accidental prescription painkiller overdoses resulting from things like not taking a medication as directed or not understanding how multiple

I question are we saving lives with Naloxone or just prolonging it enough until they get a stronger version of heroin or one laced with fentanyl or carfentanyl. Thus, far the effectiveness that Naloxone have on the amount of opioid related overdoses has shown ineffective. The amount of lives saved from Naloxone has increased, however the number of overdoses and deaths have increased in the state of Maryland, since Naloxone has increased on the streets. My audience is for those who set the guidelines for the administration for Naloxone in the State of Maryland. Currently, in Maryland a person does not have to be trained to administer Naloxone. Anyone can go to their local pharmacy to get Naloxone at no cost. There should be more stringent guidelines on how Naloxone is distributed to the community. There should be an increase of education and not a decrease. This is important because educating the community has proven to be an effective intervention for drug use. Administering Naloxone without treatment is keeping people temporarily alive and addicted with the increase of overdoses and deaths in the long-term. Naloxone is reactive and without treatment have been proven ineffective. Naloxone is a short-term solution to

In fact, there was thought to be more of a need for them. Before the last two decades, opioids were used for cancer related or acute pain. However, in the 1990s chronic non cancer patients got attention because people nationally felt there was a shortage in patients receiving opioids, thus making them deprived of adequate pain management. Because of this, clinicians were encouraged to treat chronic non-cancer pain and patients in hospice care more often than they were used to. It was also encouraged to use high doses of opioids for long periods of time (Cheatle). The idea that providers seemed overly cautious about these medications caused a large increase in opioid prescriptions from health care providers. Threat of tort and litigation for some doctors that were deemed for not prescribing enough to alleviate pain of patients was also a concern for doctors This quickly turned a shortage of prescription opioids into a national prescription opioid abuse epidemic in under twenty years. From 1999 to 2010, the amount of prescription opioids sold to hospitals, pharmacies, and doctors offices quadrupled, and three times the number of people overdosed on painkillers in this time (Garcia). While some patients have benefitted from the increased sales and loose guidelines of prescription opioid analgesics, the increasing in opioid misuse, abuse, and overdose is truly daunting. As a nation, we need to back track, and

Once more, the lives of Canadians are being claimed by addiction and overdose of a new drug in the streets. For those of you who don’t know what fentanyl is, it’s a powerful opioid, 100 times stronger than morphine, that is often prescribed to help patients manage moderate to severe pain. As a highly addictive substance, many are now dependent on it, and it is one of the most frequent causes of drug overdose. Readily available for purchase online are quantities of pure fentanyl from China, but when improperly diluted in clandestine labs, it can lead to an immediate overdose. Recently, an antidote for opioid overdose called naloxone has become available without prescription, so that anyone can use it. Fentanyl has become a severe problem in the past few years, and while we yet to find a way to eliminate dependence on this drug, we must keep those who use it safe.

In Florida alone, thousands of Americans die every year due to the struggles of opioid addiction. According to Becker’s Hospital Review 1,399 (Rappleye) Floridians die each year from prescription or heroin overdose. Many families are affected by opioid

Substance abuse disorders have been considered a major epidemic by public health authorities during this century. Most recently, those who use, and abuse opioids have been in the spotlight. The growing number of overdoses, deaths, and individuals who are identified as opioid abusers has, of late, been the subject of media attention. Now coined “The Opioid

As we all have researched and found out the devastating numbers to the opioid epidemic “the abuse of prescription and non-prescription opioids is one of the greatest threats facing public health in the United States today. It is estimated that as many as 2.5 million people in the US are suffering from opioid addiction related to prescriptions, and an additional 467,000 are addicted to heroin”(2017).

Naloxone is an FDA approved overdose reversal medication. Naloxone is a prescription medication that when administered to an individual experiencing an opioid-related overdose restores the individual to consciousness and normal breathing (NAMSDL.org, 2016). Naloxone is always effective when administered correctly (NAMSDL.org, 2016). Since 2000, the drug overdose rate involving opioids has increased 200% (NAMSDL.org, 2016). Treatment centers, physicians and first responders in the rural areas of the United States need more access to naloxone to prevent opioid-related overdose deaths. The U.S Surgeon General Vivek Murthy stated, “People find themselves in overdose situations don’t have to lose their lives because family members or emergency responders don’t have access to the reversal drug naloxone” (Wolf, 2016). Expanding access to rural areas can save lives and prevent deaths.

Proponents of harm reduction argue that instead of penalizing individuals for partaking in illicit drug use, it is more productive to create policies and procedures that reduce the likelihood of harmful consequences of such drug use (14). Naloxone, an opioid antagonist and overdose reversal medication, has been shown to be a highly effective harm reduction strategy. If used quickly, naloxone can prevent and overdose and reverse the effects of opioids (15). Previously only used by EMT’s and other medical professionals, allowing laypersons to access and use naloxone has successfully prevented opioid-related overdoses (13, 16-18). While naloxone is the most studied and validated harm reduction method, others have been employed nationally. Though not validated through peer-reviewed literature, Project Lazarus and the Harm Reduction Coalition, two harm-reduction centered non-profits, advocate that when using drugs, people should use together, and avoid mixing drugs as a means of reducing the likelihood of overdose (19-22). Many fatal-overdoses result from poly-substance drug use and therefore, the recommendation of avoiding poly-substance use bares significance even if this harm reduction strategy has not been analyses in a scientific context

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

The over use of opioid has been one of the major public health problem in the United States (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2018). Opioids include prescription medications that are used to treat pain symptoms which includes codeine, morphine, methadone, hydrocodone, and etc., as well as illegal drugs such as heroin and illicit potent on opioids such as fentanyl analogs (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2018). The opioid overdose could happen due to many factors such as when a patient deliberately misuses a prescription, or misuse heroin (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2018). Opioid overdose could happen due to the prescriber miscalculated the opioid dose or when

The use of opioids and other drugs continues to gradually increase in the United State. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of overdose deaths involving opioids has quadrupled since 1999” (CDC website). Individuals are abusing prescription opioids such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone. Prescriptions opioids that are supposed to be used as pain relievers, cough suppressants and for withdrawal symptoms are being use by individuals in order to feel relaxed or for the overwhelming effect of euphoria. These types of drugs are to be taken orally, but people are snorting, smoking, and injecting them in order to get a better high. I have personal encounters with opioid drugs and opioid abuser on a regular

The United States currently faces an unprecedented epidemic of opioid addiction. This includes painkillers, heroin, and other drugs made from the same base chemical. In the couple of years, approximately one out of twenty Americans reported misuse or abuse of prescriptions painkillers. Heroin abuse and overdoses are on the rise and are the leading cause of injury deaths, surpassing car accidents and gun shots. The current problem differs from the opioid addiction outbreaks of the past in that it is also predominant in the middle and affluent classes. Ultimately, anyone can be fighting a battle with addiction and it is important for family members and loved ones to know the signs. The cause for this epidemic is that the current spike of opioid abuse can be traced to two decades of increased prescription rates for painkillers by well-meaning physicians.

Various levels of governments in different communities across North America have initiated programs to deal with the opioid epidemic and its effect. Some of these initiatives will be examined in more details below.

Opioid drugs are some of the most widespread pain medications that we have in this country; indeed, the fact is that opioid analgesic prescriptions have increased by over 300% from 1999 to 2010 (Mitch 989). Consequently, the number of deaths from overdose increased from 4000 to 16,600 a year in the same time frame (Mitch 989). This fact becomes even more frightening when you think about today; the annual number of fatal drug overdoses in the Unites States now surpasses that of motor vehicle deaths (Alexander 1865). Even worse, overdose deaths caused by opioids specifically exceed those attributed to both cocaine and heroin combined (Alexander 1865).