We’ve all watched the news. Read the obituaries. Yet another beautiful, young soul lost to a drug overdose. The biggest culprit: intravenous heroin. In 2014, CDC reported 47,055 drug overdoses in the year ("International Overdose Awareness Day | Facts & Stats," n.d.). That’s roughly around 128 lives lost every day to a drug overdose. That number is likely to be even greater for 2016.
The opioid crisis is an increasingly deadly issue our country is facing. When opioid abusers, their families, and their friends are asked how the addiction started, usually the story is pretty similar. “I broke my arm, and was prescribed a month supply of hydrocodone” or “I had to have surgery and was sent home with oxycodone for post-operative pain.” Many users report a history of anxiety and depression. Once users discovered the euphoric effect of opioids, the drug became their main form of an anti-depressant. Once the oxy and hydro prescription ran dry, the next easiest accessible form of the drug became street heroin.
Heroin is very easy to obtain on the street and with a low cost. Many users are able to buy days’ worth of heroin for under $20. With the ease of attainability and the low cost, it’s not surprising the nation quickly developed a problem on its hands.
Washington has taken notice of this issue and has recently put into place, some very strict laws on distribution of prescription painkillers. Some of the new laws the senate has implemented, “strengthen prescription drug monitoring and treatment and abuse-prevention programs; fund drug disposal efforts; and assist states that want to expand the availability of the drug naloxone, which helps reverse overdoses” (Harris & Huetteman, 2016).
While these things all seem like great ideas, there has also been major downfalls from Washington D.C. cracking down on prescription painkillers. One of the biggest, has been decreased accessibility and attainability for people who really need prescription pain killers, to be able to get them. Millions of Americans are suffering from chronic pain everyday. The cause of chronic pain ranges from back injuries, to disorders such as fibromyalgia, to cancer patients. And unfortunately with these new laws and regulations, chronic pain sufferers may be the biggest victims.
While, doctors are still allowed to prescribe prescription painkillers, and patients are still able to fill them, the new laws usually only permit “partial filling”. This means that if you were formerly getting a 30 day supply of a painkiller, you now can only get a 14 day supply. Many think to themselves “so what you just call the doctor in two weeks to get more.” Unfortunately though, these laws typically require the patient to actually come in and be seen by the healthcare provider, in order for the script to be renewed. If the patient is seeing a specialist that prescribes their pain medications, they can end up waiting weeks or months for an appointment.
Which means chronic pain sufferers may have to go weeks without access to adequate pain control. Many scientific studies have shown, that uncontrolled pain leads to more severe chronic pain, anxiety, depression, poor relationships, loss of quality of life, and even suicide. Which poses the controversial issue of who are the real victims of opioid abuse? The addict or the patient?
While, I fully acknowledge that more healthcare providers need to educate and recommend more non-pharmaceutical pain interventions for patients, and more programs need to be instated to help screen and treat opioid abuse; I cannot support blaming a class of medications and the companies that provide them, as responsible for the crisis.
Anxiety, depression, PTSD, child abuse, sexual abuse, and other psychological illnesses are the main contributing factors that lead a person down the path of addiction. To properly address addiction, we must stop blaming the drug and start addressing the mental health of addicts.
Taking effective drugs from the hands of cancer patients, and other chronic pain sufferers, is not going to solve the problem of addiction. America needs to take responsibility and start talking about mental illness. We need more prevention, screening, and treatment programs for at risk youths and adults before addiction ever becomes a question.“Big Pharma” is to be blamed for several ailments of the country, but opioid addiction is not one of them. When these drugs are used safely and responsibly, they save millions of Americans from pain and suffering every day.
As a nurse, I cannot emphasize enough how these drugs are needed to manage a patient’s overall recovery and wellbeing. To take these vital medications away because of the actions of a few, is unjust and unethical.
