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Cassie Daniella
Professor Stuewe
English 1301
4 August 2017
The opioid epidemic is the worst drug crisis in American history. This epidemic
has been occurring over a decade and many Americans are abusing opioid drugs. Today, opioids
are nearly the number one killer of citizens in the U.S. They have killed more people than car
crashes, guns, cocaine, and heroine. Statistics show that opioid deaths are up by 369%. (How
Bad is The Opioid Epidemic? Dan Nolan, Chris Amico, February 23, 2016)
Prescription painkillers are much too easy to access nowadays and this is why America
has a huge crisis on their hands. People are getting opioids not only from Doctors but they also
get them from friends and relatives. Working in the healthcare industry, I have seen some of the
opioid abuse that occurs on a daily basis. Most patients that get admitted into the hospital ask for
pain medications throughout their time there. Patients will ask the doctor for the medications and
the doctor will prescribe what they want for the most part.
Even though painkillers temporarily relieve pain, they may not be the best for a persons
health or better their outcomes. Patients are receiving multiple doses of prescriptions within a
short period of time. 1991 to 2009 opioid prescriptions increased to 200 million. (NIDA, April 5,
2011) A high number of patients that are prescribed opioids are abusing them and either giving
out or selling them to people that they know, then turning right around and refilling their
prescriptions.
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In 2015, there were 52,404 deaths in the U.S and in 2012, 259,000,000 prescriptions were
given to Americans in which is enough for every adult to have their own prescription filled
bottle. (National Center for Health Statistics, 2015) There is an opioid reversing medication in
Maryland that people can take to save their life, and these can be given or taken without a
prescription. The drug that reverses opioid drugs is called Naloxone. Not all insurance plans will
cover the drug, but it is very inexpensive at about $140 to $190. (Opioid reversal drug available
The FDA has come up with an action plan to reduce opioid abuse in the United States.
These plans include expanding use of advisory committees, develop warnings and safety
information for immediate release on opioid labeling, strengthen post market requirements,
update risk evaluation and mitigation strategy program, expand access to abuse-deterrent
formulations to discourage abuse, support better treatment, and reassess the risk-benefit approval
Pharmaceutical companies play a major part in the opioid epidemic. These companies are
using unethical practices when getting these drugs out into the public. By using bad labeling
practices and marketing strategies, the companies use these tactics so the healthcare industry will
use their products. Opioid drugs are okay when used as prescribed, but when people start abusing
them, their body becomes more tolerant of the drugs and may require a higher dosage to work as
wanted and or needed. This causes people to become addicted which can lead to overdosing.
Purdue Pharma, which is a big pharmaceutical company misled the public with their
advertising and was found guilty in 2010 and faced fines of around $635 million dollars. The
misleading tactics that these big companies use are things such as their commercials appearing to
have physicians that are highly trained on the opioid drugs and had continuing education for the
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safety of the drugs. (addictions.com, August 4, 2017) They also got lobbyist groups involved in
There are multiple options to prevent over using opioids. One way that can make a big
impact is not over prescribing. If doctors would be more cautious when prescribing opioids and
to whom they are prescribing them too, there would be a huge decrease in opioid drug abuse.
There is a program that educates students about opioid abuse and the effects it can have
on a person when abused. This program is called operation prevention. The program educates
students all the way from elementary school to college. It is designed to go in much depth about
these deadly drugs and the resources that they have to stay away from the opioids. (Operation
Prevention, 2016)
Opioid abuse and overdose can be prevented and used safely. There are many resources
and options to help people. Doctors have the ability to fix this horrible epidemic by not over
prescribing medications to patients and be extremely cautious to whom they prescribe the drugs.
If they can do that and educate their patients on the critical use of opioids safely, there will be a
Works Cited
Abuse, National Institute on Drug. "Analysis of opioid prescription practices finds areas of
concern." NIDA. N.p., 05 Apr. 2011. Web. 04 Aug. 2017.
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Information by Drug Class - FDA Opioids Action
Plan." U S Food and Drug Administration Home Page. Center for Drug Evaluation and
Research, n.d. Web. 04 Aug. 2017.
"How Bad is the Opioid Epidemic?" PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, 2017. Web. 04 Aug.
2017.
"The Role of Pharmaceutical Companies in the Opioid Epidemic." Addictions. N.p., 2017. Web.
04 Aug. 2017.