Misuse and Abuse of Opioids-Based Prescription drugs
According to Boté, the fatalities associated with the opioids misuse and abuse increased six times between 1999 and 2017 (2). Over the recent past, the United States has been grappling with the problem of the opioids crisis. The problem of abuse and misuse of opioids has had severe effects on the United States, for example, by causing many deaths and certain health conditions. This paper explores the problem of abuse of opioids-based prescription drugs in terms of its history, effects on health, and possible solutions.
The History of the Opioid Crisis
The current problem of abuse and misuse of opioids can be traced back to the 1990s. Boté argues that “The 1990s mark the first wave with increase in opioids prescriptions with notable increase in opioids overdose around 1999” (2). This is the period in which pharmaceutical companies managed to convince healthcare providers that opioid-based medications were not only effective in managing chronic pain but also that these drugs did not have any addiction potential. As a result, healthcare providers prescribed these drugs to their patients in large numbers. Consequently, prescription opioids account for nearly 70% of all fatalities associated with drug overdose (Florence, Luo, Xu, and Zhou 2). This problem has affected every realm of American society. However, the healthcare sector is one of the areas significantly impacted by the abuse of prescription drugs.
The Impact of the Opioid Crisis on Health
To begin with, opioids overdose comprise a significant proportion of the deaths in the United States. On this note, opioids were responsible for around 68% of all deaths attributed to drug overdose in the country in 2017 (Boté 2). These deaths can be attributed to suicides. Also, some persons end up being hospitalized in emergency rooms after abusing opioids drugs prescribed to them or other persons, thereby increasing the costs of healthcare in the country.
Apart from causing deaths, the opioid pandemic has caused a significant decrease in life expectancy. On this note, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention argues that the life expectancy in American has been decreasing steadily over the last three years as a result of a surge in suicides and deaths associated to opioids abuse (Boté 3). At the same time, the opioid crisis has not spared children. On this note, the prevalence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) has been on the rise exposing infants and unborn babies to problems, such as still or preterm births or poor fetal growth (Boté 3). Besides, the use of prescription drugs has worsened the mental health crisis the country is facing. This is because people with various mental health issues face an increased risk of abusing drugs prescribed to them (Bruera & Egidio 807). As such, the opioids crisis has had negative effects on every realm of the American healthcare sector.
How to Address the Issue of the Opioid Crisis
Several initiatives can be adopted to decrease the prescription and misuse of opioids-based medications. One of these initiatives involves adhering to the guidelines that have been developed to provide healthcare providers with insights on how to prescribe the opioids– based drugs. For instance, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention published a guideline in 2016 titled “CDC Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain” (Boté 6). This guideline informs the healthcare providers the circumstances under which to prescribe medications that have some opioids components. For instance, the guideline makes it clear that clinicians should only consider opioids as alternatives drugs for the management of persistent pain (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 1). At the same time, the guideline informs clinicians that they should only use opioids when the benefits presented by these drugs outweigh any possible harm. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The other initiative that can be employed to address the current opioids pandemic is the use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PMDP) which comprise of tools that aid providers in making decisions pertaining to the dispensing and prescription of opioids-based drugs (11). Also, these tools provide states’ healthcare departments with the data they need to make policies pertaining to the prescription and usage of opioids in the healthcare settings. At the same time, relevant agencies should adopt a program aimed at taking back the unused opioids drugs from pharmacies and clinics. This initiative will result in a decrease in the supply of opioids-based prescription drugs. Besides, individuals, communities and healthcare providers must work together to identify people who face an increased risk of becoming addicted to opioids prescribed to them by their healthcare providers. One of the risk factors for the development of dependence on prescription drugs is the history of alcoholism (Bruera & Egidio 807). As such, healthcare providers should be conscious when prescribing opioids to their patients who have a history of being addicted to alcohol. At the same time, people already using streets drugs face a higher risk of developing a dependence on prescription medicines (Bruera & Egidio 807). These individuals should not be prescribed opioid-based drugs unless they are the only medications that can manage their pain.
In conclusion, the opioids crisis is causing mayhem in American society, severely affecting the country’s healthcare sector. This plague has caused many deaths and other problems such as suicides and prenatal fatalities. As a result, this paper has demonstrated that something needs to be done to lessen the effects of the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs, particularly opioids-based medicines. It is important that all entities work together to tackle this problem from all sides by limiting the prescription of opioid-based drugs and reducing the supply of these medicines.
Works Cited
Boté, Sunghee H. “US Opioid Epidemic: Impact on Public Health and Review of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs).” Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, vol. 11, no. 2, 2019, pp. 1-22.
Bruera, Eduardo, and Fabbro, Egidio. Pain management in the era of the opioid crisis. American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2020, pp. 807-812.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016. Web. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdf/prescribing/Guidelines_Factsheet-a.pdf
Florence, Curtis, Feijun Luo, Likang Xu, and Chao Zhou. “The economic burden of prescription opioid overdose, abuse and dependence in the United States, 2013.” Medical Care, vol. 54, no. 10, 2016, pp. 901.