Something's Gotta Give
Recently, Trump announced that he will declare a state of emergency on the opioid epidemic.
An opioid epidemic has been a growing threat throughout our country, with nearly two million Americans suffering from some form of a drug addiction. Because of a failure in the United States’ medical care system, “an estimated report of 78 people die every day from an opioid overdose, a number that has nearly quadrupled since 1999” (Seelye). Every day, hospitals treat 1,000 patients in emergency rooms for complications from narcotics.
How did we let it get this bad?
From a societal perspective, we tend to view drug addiction as a criminal and moral issue, which leads us to blame the addicts themselves for ending up in the state they are in now. In addition, the issue of addiction can affect anyone regardless of their socioeconomic status, political party, race, gender, or ethnicity. The deaths due to opioid overdoses are growing each year, yet only a fraction of Americans are receiving treatment for their addiction (Seeyle). Because of the negative attitudes against addiction, it becomes more difficult for the addict to receive treatment due to the lack of a support system.
At the same time, many patients are unable to access treatments, such as Buprenorphine and methadone maintenance- which is a medication assisted treatment. Despite a sharp rise in opioid addiction over the past decade, there has been only a slight increase in referrals for medication-assisted treatment in state licensed drug treatment programs (Kolodny, 2016). For patients who are able to access medication assisted treatments, they have to visit private practice phyisicans who don't accept commerical insurance or Medicaid- which becomes a financial problem for opioid addicts.
To be frank, there are no simple solutions to combat this opioid epidemic. However, more should be done to restrict the marketing of opioids for chronic pain, increase (or better) insurance coverage and expand the access to alternative pain treatments. Not only that, the problem does not lie in the patients, it lies with the physicians who take easy measures by overprescribing their patients. On that note, education and training programs should be implemented for physicians in order to reduce the rate of overprescribing opioids and allow them to explore other (better) measures to treating their patients. As Kolodny stated, effective programs need to address two separate priorities: prevention of addiction among people not currently addicted, and treatment and risk reduction to prevent overdose and death among the millions of individuals in the United States now addicted (Bernstein, 2017).
Berstein, L. (12 October 2017). Steps the u.s government should take right now against the opioid epidemic. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/10/12/steps-the-u-s-government-should-take-against-the-opioid-epidemic-right-now/?utm_term=.f403b5bb46f6
Kolodny, A. (16 October 2017). The opioid epidemic as seen in 6 charts. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-addiction-epidemic-in-6-charts/
Seeyle, K.Q. (17 November 2016). Fraction of americans with drug addiction receive treatment, surgeon general says. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/us/substance-abuse-surgeon-general-report.html
An opioid epidemic has been a growing threat throughout our country, with nearly two million Americans suffering from some form of a drug addiction. Because of a failure in the United States’ medical care system, “an estimated report of 78 people die every day from an opioid overdose, a number that has nearly quadrupled since 1999” (Seelye). Every day, hospitals treat 1,000 patients in emergency rooms for complications from narcotics.
 |
| Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse |
How did we let it get this bad?
From a societal perspective, we tend to view drug addiction as a criminal and moral issue, which leads us to blame the addicts themselves for ending up in the state they are in now. In addition, the issue of addiction can affect anyone regardless of their socioeconomic status, political party, race, gender, or ethnicity. The deaths due to opioid overdoses are growing each year, yet only a fraction of Americans are receiving treatment for their addiction (Seeyle). Because of the negative attitudes against addiction, it becomes more difficult for the addict to receive treatment due to the lack of a support system.
At the same time, many patients are unable to access treatments, such as Buprenorphine and methadone maintenance- which is a medication assisted treatment. Despite a sharp rise in opioid addiction over the past decade, there has been only a slight increase in referrals for medication-assisted treatment in state licensed drug treatment programs (Kolodny, 2016). For patients who are able to access medication assisted treatments, they have to visit private practice phyisicans who don't accept commerical insurance or Medicaid- which becomes a financial problem for opioid addicts.
To be frank, there are no simple solutions to combat this opioid epidemic. However, more should be done to restrict the marketing of opioids for chronic pain, increase (or better) insurance coverage and expand the access to alternative pain treatments. Not only that, the problem does not lie in the patients, it lies with the physicians who take easy measures by overprescribing their patients. On that note, education and training programs should be implemented for physicians in order to reduce the rate of overprescribing opioids and allow them to explore other (better) measures to treating their patients. As Kolodny stated, effective programs need to address two separate priorities: prevention of addiction among people not currently addicted, and treatment and risk reduction to prevent overdose and death among the millions of individuals in the United States now addicted (Bernstein, 2017).
Berstein, L. (12 October 2017). Steps the u.s government should take right now against the opioid epidemic. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/10/12/steps-the-u-s-government-should-take-against-the-opioid-epidemic-right-now/?utm_term=.f403b5bb46f6
Kolodny, A. (16 October 2017). The opioid epidemic as seen in 6 charts. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-addiction-epidemic-in-6-charts/
Seeyle, K.Q. (17 November 2016). Fraction of americans with drug addiction receive treatment, surgeon general says. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/us/substance-abuse-surgeon-general-report.html
Very thoughtful post. That spike for heroin, though smaller in absolute number than other opioids, is really an amazing change. It looks like about a 500% increase in the last decade.
ReplyDelete