Opioid Crisis Research Paper

Over the past two decades, pharmaceutical companies have quietly invaded American’s homes by introducing new miracle drugs such as OxyContin into their daily lives. Purdue Pharmaceuticals introduced OxyContin saying it was a miracle cure for pain that would last twelve hours. However, “even when doctors began reporting that patients were complaining

Opioids are taking over the United States with its addictive composition, once patients are take opioids there is no escaping. The drug directed from opium which is obtained from a plant (Katz). Opioids are most commonly found in prescription pill from making underground sales more common. Since opioids are derived from a plant this makes the reality of home grown drugs more of an issue. American citizens overdosing on opioids is what is sparking the crisis because opioid “overdoses killed more people last year than guns or car accidents” (Katz). Opioids are extremely addictive and that is why so many citizens overdose on these types of drugs. After patients become hooked on opioids their body constantly is needing more and more opium to escape they pain they think they are enduring. The overdosing of Americans is not a small percentage of the population either, it is estimated that “over two million people in America have problem with opioids” proving this growing issue is an ongoing crisis (Katz). The United States government needs to take action immediately to the opioid crisis because doctors are overprescribing patients because they seemingly overreact to pain, and opioids are one of the most addictive drug types in the world.

In Nolan and Amico’s article, “How Bad is the Opioid Epidemic?” they argue the opioid epidemic has become the worst drug crisis in American history. Heroin and other opioids overdose kill more than 47,055 people a year. Deaths caused from drug overdose has outnumber as much as 40 percent compared to the death caused from car crashes in 2014 (Nolan and Amico 3). Furthermore, in 1999 there were only 15000 people died from drug overdose. This number has tripled in 15 years. Also, in his article, “America’s Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse” Volkow also presents the fact that “with an estimated 2.1 million people in the United States suffering from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers in 2012 and an estimated 467,000 addicted to heroin. The consequences of this abuse have been devastating and are on the rise. For example, the number of unintentional overdose deaths from prescription pain relievers has

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.

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.

The reason they say this is because the supply of illegal drugs, which are more fatal than prescription painkillers, is increasing. Experts and politicians agree with the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act because they believe it recognizes that recovery isn't a fast process, in fact it is a long-term process. It also recognizes that addicts may have an illness. While most Republicans are in favor of this law, for the most part Democrats don't agree. The reason they disagree is because they say the law is not properly funded. To counteract this argument Republicans have proposed that funding should be appropriated annually. Another plus side is the Center for Disease Control and Prevent issuance in March of an opioid-prescribing guideline. This advises physicians to limit most opioid prescriptions to three

Opioid abuse, misuse and overdose is a problem in The United States. You can’t turn on the TV or read a newspaper without some mention of the epidemic. This issue has caused the practice of prescribing or taking narcotic pain medication to be looked at under a microscope. Patients are fearful to use some necessary pain medication, because they may become addicted. Other patients who genuinely do have pain and need medication are having a tougher time obtaining the help they need. The problem of abuse and addiction is tough to solve since for some people the medications are the only way they can function and live a semi-normal life. A patient with pain may be hesitant to visit the doctor and

The FDA has taken action to help eliminate the abuse of opioid drugs. They consented to abuse deterrent labeling for a few opioid drugs. These drugs used many different technologies to resolve the abuse issue. Such as making the drugs immune to crushing or dissolving so it will prevent drug users from consuming more than prescribed at a time. The FDA is also supporting the growth of more abuse deterrent drugs, by helping different manufactures. In spite of the fact, these drugs can still be abused, but it’s a start to creating more abuse deterrent drugs with less risk of abuse. In addition, FDA exceeded the old treatment for patients who have overdosed

Opiates, otherwise known as prescription painkillers, have become an enormous problem in the United States. Addiction, overdoses, and death are only a few of the problems caused by opiates. Painkillers can be prescribed to help lessen chronic pain, pain from surgery, pain from serious accidents, or pain from terminal diseases. Opiates are highly addicting and have become highly abused in the United States in the past few years. Prescription painkillers need to be banned in the United States because of the dangers they bring to the patients to whom they are being prescribed. The FDA needs to become more involved in the awareness of how dangerous these drugs are and place a ban on them.

These big drug companies like Purdue Pharma, started out with their marketing campaign that said that OxyContin was a good drug even for minor pain, promising that it was not addictive. This type of misinformation started the pro-opioid movement that quickly swept the nation. Purdue Pharma’s multimillion dollar campaign that convinced the masses that opioids were good for Chronic pain, and non-malignant pain conditions, should be treated with Opioids. It was

5). In my opinion, the drug cartel, our government, the pharmaceutical industry and the medical profession have the upper hand in the war on drugs and their recovery. However, the government’s documented approaches of educating physicians and the public about the risks of a specific drug, monitoring its supply channels, heightening regulations, law enforcement, and prosecution measures have only shifted the problem of substance abuse from one drug to another repeatedly (Herzberg,2016). Florida’s Pinellas County Sheriff, Bob Gualtieri referred to this phenomenon as playing a game of whack-a-mole (Van Sickler, 2014). The problem is when an addict experiences a void in procurement of their drug of choice, they will relentlessly turn to the easiest cheapest operative drug they can find. A seamless example would be when Florida State was the epicenter of the prescription drug abuse crisis. The pill mills were in full force. Prescriptions for hundreds of oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, and antidepressants were acquired with one simple doctor’s appointment. Dealers and addicts alike would doctor shop and hire other addicts to patronize pill mills, so they had a never ending supply on hand at all times. After Florida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi and law enforcement shut down all the pill mills, everyone turned to a much cheaper and

The opiate epidemic is claiming more lives than car crashes, a crisis that is tearing families apart and is killing thousands of Americans. At the root of the opiate epidemic stands the pharmaceutical companies and prescribing physicians. A trend seen that too often begins with a patient being prescribed painkillers by a doctor, often for an injury, chronic pain or something as minor as oral surgery or a tooth ache. Many patients are unaware of the significant dangers of being prescribed these medications and ultimately become addicted. Physicians are not educating their patients to the risks associated with prescribing these medications; but more importantly

while sacrificing the lives of people. They continue to make and distribute thousands of drugs to pharmacies that really do not need them, but it appears that money talks. Joe Rannazzisi, a former DEA affiliate, in an interview with CBS 60 minutes, blew the whistle on how so many opioids made it to pharmacies across the United States. It was stated by Rannazzisi through the correspondent Bill Whitaker (2017) that “the opioid crisis was allowed to spread aided by

The opioid crisis is wiping out our future generations by the numbers. 91 people are dying every day from an opioid overdose. Nearly ½ of the US opioid overdoses are caused by prescription opioids. We may not think that this can happen to us, but it can and it is. The opioid overdoses used to be something that we saw on the news but now it's come and knocking on our front doors of our communities. The epidemic is hard in bigger areas but imagine the effects on the small towns, or the close-knit communities where everyone knows everyone. Are we really winning this war against drugs or is it devouring our country whole? The drugs that are playing major roles in the epidemic are legally manufactured medications and illicit narcotics, which are the two different kinds of opioids. The most well-known opioid medications that are being prescribed include oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine.

pharmaceutical market in 2015 had 87 Billion dollars worth of imports, and exports worth 47 Billion. Overall the drug industry spent over 100 million dollars lobbying congress on various bills during 2014-2016. In the United States the medical field is an industry. These companies are built off of monetary incentive. In order for their product to gain popularity and make more money they pressured doctors to prescribe their products. People in our country are suffering at varying levels because of these opioids, and these big companies can afford to provide relief from those who have been prescribed with them. There are some instances of opioids being effective. For example surgeries, cancer patients, and other life threatening issues. It becomes an issue when doctors trust their patients to take large portions of these drugs home. Many people have spoken of how month long prescriptions are often gone within the first week. Until a better replacement for opioids can be discovered, these opioids need to be more tightly