Prescription Opioids: A Case Study

The United States of America has had a war against drugs since the 37th president, Richard Nixon, declared more crimination on drug abuse in June 1971. From mid-1990s to today, a crisis challenges the health department and government on opioid regulation, as millions of Americans die due overdoses of painkillers. Opioids are substances used as painkillers, and they range from prescription medications to the illegal drug, heroin. Abusing these substances can cause a dependency or addiction, which can lead to overdoses, physical damages, emotional trauma, and death. To ease the crisis, physicians are asked to depend on alternatives to pain management. Law enforcement cracks down on profiting drug-dealers and heroin abusers. People are warned against misusing opioids. The controversy begins for those who suffer from chronic pain, because they depend on opioids. There’s so a correlation to the 1980s cocaine epidemic, and people are upset over racial discrimination. Nonetheless, the best way to avoid this crisis is to recover the people at risk, reduce inappropriate opioid description, and have a proper response.

Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and

In 2004, Carol Ward confronted a Manitoba doctor with a photo of her daughter, Lisa Erickson, injecting drugs. She pleaded with the doctor to stop prescribing morphine to her daughter because her daughter was suffering from a drug addiction and did not need opioids. Her daughter died of an overdose at age 32. According to the new data from Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) and provincial regulatory agencies suggest physicians rarely face serious discipline in opioid-related cases, however, many doctors worried since investigations and monitoring has increased (Glauser, 2017). The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario released information that about 84 doctors flagged by the ministry of health for prescribing opioids in

America is in the midst of yet another drug-related epidemic only this time it is the worst opioid overdose epidemic the world has seen since the late 1990’s. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC 2016), “since 1999, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids has quadrupled.” Opioids (including prescription opioids and heroin) killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record. (Rudd, Seth, David, School, 2015). With overdoses from heroin, prescription drugs, and opioid pain relievers surpassing car accidents as the leading cause of injury-related death in America, it became clear that swift and comprehensive legislation was needed for treatment, recovery support and prevention education in communities

In my opinion use of opioids for a short term could have no pain effect. However, once the patient starts taking it over and over again, it becomes difficult for the dose to be effective. Furthermore, when a person uses opioids, they develop tolerance for it. According to a survey by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 50.5% people misuse opioids from friends and relatives, while around 22.1% of people are prescribed by their doctor. I also found that opioids has a higher dependence and this could lead someone to start with opioids and then getting used to the harder drugs like heroine. Around 44 people die everyday due to overdose. Overall, the no pain effect depends on the amount of dosage the person is

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

There is no question that the alarming rate of deaths related to opioid overdose needs to be addressed in this county, but the way to solve the problem seems to remain a trial and error approach at this point. A patient is injured, undergoes surgery, experiences normal wear and tear on a hip, knee or back and has to live with that pain for the rest of their life or take a narcotic pain medication in order to improve their quality of life and at least be able to move. The above patients are what narcotic pain medications were created for, a population of people that use narcotic pain medications for fun is what is creating a problem. Narcotics are addictive to both populations, however taking the narcotic for euphoric reasons is not the intention of the prescription that the physician is writing. The healthcare system needs to find a way to continue to provide patients that experience chronic pain with the narcotics that work for them while attempting to ensure the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) doesn’t have to worry about a flood of pain pills hitting the streets by granting access to the population with a substance abuse problem.

Opioid use in the US has increased over the years, and this has led to an increase in substance abuse. Substance abuse is not only associated with use of illicit drugs but also prescription drugs. In 2015, of the 20.5 million reported cases of substance abuse, 2 million had an abuse disorder related to prescription pain relievers and 591,000 associated with heroin.1 The increase in substance abuse disorder has led to an increase in opioid related death. In 2015 drug overdose was the leading cause of accidental death in the US with 52, 404 lethal drug overdoses.2

Roughly 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain with an annual cost of $600 billion dollars in health care and a limited number of pain specialist physicians (Harle, et al., 2015). The conditions require the daily use of opioid medications which are being prescribed by primary care providers and providers in the ED. Along with multiple prescribers of opioid medications, the number of prescriptions for these medications has quadrupled from 1999-2013 in correlation with an increase in deaths related to opioid use (Greenwood-Ericksen, Poon, Nelson, Weiner, & Schuur, 2016). The significant increase of opioid related deaths and complications is commonly being referred to as the prescription opioid epidemic and to blame for the most unintentional deaths in the US (Smith, et al., 2015). Though responsible for administering and prescribing opioids to provide pain management, nurse practitioners in the ED have limited patient history and are placed under time constraints. Improved education regarding pain management, clinical practice guidelines and the use of resource tools like the Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP) have been proven effective for reducing opioid related complications (Greenwood-Ericksen et al.,

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.

The effects of opioid overdose are traumatic, devastating, and preventable. It is estimated that there are 128,000 people addicted to opioids in New Jersey (Stirling, 2015). Furthermore, many of those addicted to the drug heroin became so after being prescribed narcotic pain killers. This is because when the prescription runs out the addiction is still in place. Those addicted can find pills being sold illegally but they can cost up to 30 dollars a pill. Heroin, costing only 5 dollars a bag according to law enforcement officials, is a much better deal (Stirling, 2015).

As the war on drugs continues, more and more lives are being lost to opiate overdoses. Opiates are drugs that contain or are derived from the opium poppy plant. They can be legally prescribed pain medications such as OxyContin or Vicodin or illegal street drugs such as heroin. Whether these drugs are used legally or illegally, there is always the chance of an overdose if not used correctly. According to a 2014 press release from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), “in 2013 more than 16,000 deaths in the United States involved prescription opioids, and more than 8,000 others were related to heroin.”

Opioid addiction is so prevalent in the healthcare system because of the countless number of hospital patients being treated for chronic pain. While opioid analgesics have beneficial painkilling properties, they also yield detrimental dependence and addiction. There is a legitimate need for the health care system to provide powerful medications because prolonged pain limits activities of daily living, work productivity, quality of life, etc. (Taylor, 2015). Patients need to receive appropriate pain treatment, however, opioids need to be prescribed after careful consideration of the benefits and risks.

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).

In America, the use of opioids is at an all time high, it has became such an issue nationwide, that it has became an epidemic. Because of the opioid epidemic, America is tearing apart, children all across the country are dying everyday, these children are dying from overdoses due to poisoning. The opioid problem is not just because of a person's decision to pick up a needle or a pill bottle, but it is because in the 1990’s doctors gave up on trying to treat patients for their overwhelming pain and discomfort, causing opioids to become over prescribed. Due to the carelessness of America, opioids are being distributed more and more everyday, causing the skyrocketing number of deaths.