The Importance Of Opioids

The opioid problem is big. The fact that multiple parties (FDA, Pharmacies, Doctors) are involved make the problem even more complex and difficult to fix. One of the best ways to begin helping the opioid crisis is within the FDA. The different types of opioids need to be re-tested to evaluate their necessity within our healthcare system. Too many readily available opioids are not beneficial. Next are doctors need to be taught to stand up again big pharmaceutical companies. These companies have their priority in profit, not patient care. Hopefully by implementing these factors, the opioid crisis can become a problem of the past.

"If we could sniff or swallow something that would, for five or six hours each day, abolish our solitude as individuals, atone us with our fellows in a glowing exaltation of affection and make life in all its aspects seem not only worth living, but divinely beautiful and significant, and if this heavenly, world-transfiguring drug were of such a kind that we could wake up next morning with a clear head and an undamaged constitution - then, it seems to me, all our problems (and not merely the one small problem of discovering a novel pleasure) would be wholly solved and earth would become paradise."

Opioid Addictions can be very difficult to deal with, and admitting you have one and wanting to change can be even tougher. Addictions to opioids do not mainly only affect a person health but also affect your finances. According to Gee & Frank (2017), “The cost of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is about $5,500 per year. However, treatment of the addiction is only one element of the cost of caring for people with opioid dependence” (n.p.). The cost of things just keeps going up. Emergency rooms can be very costly and people typically try to avoid them. Gee & Frank (2017), discus the “average charges for opioid overdose patients treated and released from the emergency department are $3,397 per visit, while those admitted to the hospital racked up an average $29,497 in charges per hospitalization.” (Gee & Frank, 2017).

In the previous years the National Football League has been under intense fire from many doctors, news outlets and even players. Not for concussions, but for the over use of prescription medication pain killers. Future Hall of Famer and ex NFL receiver Calvin Johnson was quoted as saying, “Powerful and addictive opioids were handed out like candy.” That’s pretty powerful statement against the NFL by one of its best recievers ever!

medicine of cancer patients is robbed often by a friend or family member. Also, children of people who constantly seek medications learn from the parents. Therefore the future is in jeopardy. Children may grow up thinking that pill popping is the norm and may not understand the dangers of it.

As we see the further progression of the opioid epidemic within the United States, pharmacists become the frontlines to recognizing and providing care for these patients. It is however difficult to provide care for a patient when even the professionals within the medical community have an associated stigma attached to the use of these drugs. Patients who have a need for these painkillers recognize this stigma, and by doing so decide to avoid consulting their doctors and do not seek the care which they need. They do this to avoid the discriminatory treatment they receive both within and on the outside of the healthcare system, and to avoid the legal repercussions associated with the misuse and abuse of these products1. It is therefore the pharmacists' job to avoid the stigmatization of these people and respect those who use these treatments for legitimate medical purposes.

Doctors and clinical prescribers have discovered their role in curtailing the increased opioid prescriptions in America. It is without a doubt that they play a role in facilitating the opioid misuse endemic in the past by being enablers of the situations. When patients ask for pain medications, they do not take time to analyze the pain complaints or suggest alternative medications other than opioids. Even in instances when one doctor declines to offer a patient an opioid prescription for their pain needs, the patient is likely to find another who will give the prescription. However, there has been wide recognition of the opioid misuse endemic such that clinical prescribers are practicing more vigilant prescribing and are advocating opioid-free

Until recently, there was a dramatic disconnect between this research and drug court operations. The consequences of this disconnect included relapse, overdose, and death. While drug courts were designed to accommodate those in need of medical care, most operated under the misguided and dangerous practice of requiring defendants, as part of their successful program completion, to stop taking life-saving addiction medication prescribed by their physicians. This practice, which is at odds with decades of scientific and medical research, put individuals with opioid addictions in the precarious position of either having to stop taking their effective medication and risk relapse or use their medication and face incarceration. To compound matters

The opioid epidemic is a problem of importance to me, with an immense national impact. As an adolescent in Chicago, I am exposed to the horrifying statistics of opioid abuse every day. For example, the CDC reports that 91 Americans die from opioid overdose every day and the number is quickly rising. Also, the amount of Americans have died from the "opioid war" is more than 3 times the U.S Military deaths during the Vietnam War. I have watched the stories of babies born with opioid addiction, teenagers in rural parts of Milwaukee and Ohio dying from overdosing and families being torn apart because of drugs like heroin, Percocet, and opium. There are people who believe that only poor and low-income individuals succumb to opioid addictions because you have to be uneducated to be exposed to drugs. But the truth of the matter is, opioids do not discriminate.

This lack of independence could further cause the patient to feel hopeless in their own recovery, which would lead to a lack of effort in getting better, causing a strain on the family members who are doing everything they can to improve the patient’s condition. Secondly, in spite of the short term effects, doctors do not practice appropriate care when prescribing opioid-based medications. According to Anna Lembke, in recent years American doctors have been “prescribing opioids with abandon for chronic, non-terminal pain” (“problem”), leading to an “epidemic of opioid painkiller overprescribing” (“Drug”, 57). If the patient feels like the doctor is giving him an opioid medication because it is the easiest course of action to deal with the pain, the patient may not fully trust his or her doctor to have the patient’s best interests at heart. The family of the patient may have the same mistrust for the doctor. Further than mistrust, it is possible that the patient and those caring for him or her may question the doctor’s knowledge and credentials. This mistrust could lead to the patient and the family (specifically the caregiver) neglecting to follow the doctor’s specific instructions as to usage of the medication, which could cause the pain relief to be less effective than is necessary, or could cause the patient to be in

While, CURES helps to identify red flags, there are no guidelines for pharmacists to ultimately make the final decision to fill an opioid prescription or not. CVS though, is making substantial changes to its pharmacy program. If a patient has a prescription for several weeks’ worth of an opioid and wants to fill that prescription for more than seven days, pre-authorization will be required and the drugs will have to be paid for out of pocket. CVS pharmacists will begin providing patients with thorough explanations as to why some of their opioid prescriptions won’t be filled. They will also be sure to counsel patients on the dangers of opioid dependence and addiction. As mentioned in Time, Dr. Steve Stanos, president of The American Academy

“You’re faking it.” or “Can’t you just suck it up?” Millions of people who suffer through chronic pain have heard these statements made about them. In truth, they aren’t faking it, and they cannot just “suck it up.” Chronic pain, or pain lasting for longer than six months, can be a life-altering experience. According to Dr. Karriem-Norwood, the symptoms of chronic pain include: “mild to severe pain that does not go away, pain that may be described as shooting, burning, aching, or electrical, feeling of discomfort, soreness, tightness, or stiffness, fatigue, sleeplessness, withdrawal from activity and increased need to rest, weakened immune system, changes in mood including hopelessness, fear, depression, irritability, anxiety, and stress

Over-prescribing opioids is frequent in doctors across Australia as patients are unaware of their addiction to pain medication. Doctors needs to be responsible for the patience health as legal precautions can be broken if not. Patients and doctors need to stay within their states regulations to properly take and prescribe opioids in order to prevent medicolegal risks and ensure safety.

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

people who you care for be negatively taken over by expensive drugs can be frustrating for many friends and family. Often, those who are prescribed pain relievers that contain opioids continue to crave the drug after their refills are no longer available. As a result, some people may try to obtain a substance that has the same effects as opioids. For instance, some addicts may choose heroin as an alternative when they are no longer prescribed pills. It is frustrating that patients who receive help initially actually end up worse than they were, due to addiction. I understand that one can say marijuana is addictive, but it has less harmful long-term effects versus other hard drugs. Whether or not weed is addictive I am sure that citizens would