I am writing to you today to consult you on the increasing percentage of opioid based pain killers prescribed to patients. The prescription of opioid based drugs is effective and work very quickly. The drug was first used in the medical field, “In the sixteenth century when, laudanum, opium prepared in an alcoholic solution, was used as a painkiller” (Lembke, 2018). In the medical field, they have become the status quo for many chronic pain cases and patients going through the numerous months of chemotherapy. Anna Lembke, Md explains in her article that, “chronic opioid therapy benefits some patients with chronic pain” to show that there is a necessity for the prescribing of opioids (2018). Patients report the success of the drugs at astounding …show more content…
Keith Candiotti explains that, “addiction occurs only in a small percentage of patients with chronic pain who receive chronic opioid therapy” (2014). Also, regulating the milligram dosage of the medications can help patients avoid any possible addiction issues. Nabarun Dasgupta, MPH, PhD, explains that patients only receive high dosages of opioid based medication for only four days to help reduce any effects of addiction. (2016) On the other hand, the number of addictions has grown exponentially in the past twenty years in the medical field. There is also a correlation to the amount of addiction to how much doctors are prescribing pain killers. Many patients are reporting persistent pain and issues to doctors to simply get a new prescription filled. Opioid based drugs to do the job of relieving excruciating pain well where other drugs aren’t as effective; however, I would like to bring a greater amount of regulation to the prescription of opioid based pain …show more content…
One of the most difficult parts of being a doctor is being able to tell if a patient truly is in pain and distress or not. This issue is why doctors need to be so careful prescribing opioids. It is difficult to tell if the pain is real or if a patient is attempting to feed their addiction with a new script for pain killers. I believe that more checks and studies need to be conducted on patients before the prescription of such an addictive substance is prescribed to a patient. Checking into a personal report of any drug abuse would ease doctors to know that a patient isn’t looking for a prescription. Also, if a person passes a personal drug abuse check, a family history of substance abuse should be looked into. Research shows that, “children with parents who abuse alcohol or drugs are more likely to try these substances and develop alcoholism or drug addiction” (Sara Bellum, 2014). Also, a good practice for hospitals to begin is to work on is to vary between prescription of opioids and different pain killing medications. Even without any previous issues with addictions between, “8 and 12 percent of patients develop an opioid use disorder” (Bellum, 2014). I believe putting one extra staff member dedicated to checking personal and family history of abuse would make a huge benefit in number of addictions of opioid based drugs. Also, if a patient isn’t in
In medical school/pharmacology school, medical professionals are taught to treat severe pain with opioids. However, opioids should be prescribed with the possibility of future dependency in mind. Physicians often struggle with whether they should prescribe opioids or seek alternative methodologies. This ethical impasse has led may medical professionals to prescribe opioids out of sympathy, without regard for the possibility of addiction (Clarke). As previously stated, a way to address this is use alternative methods so that physicians will become more acquainted to not not treating pain by means of opioid
An ethical dilemma that is currently happening in the medical field regards pain management. Doctors and other medical professionals are faced with this ethical decision on whether to prescribe strong pain medication to patients who claim to be experiencing pain, or to not in skepticism that the patient is lying to get opioids and other strong medications. “Opioids are drugs that act on the nervous system to relieve pain. Continued use and abuse can lead to physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms,” (Drug Free World Online). Opioids are often prescribed to patients experiencing excruciating pain, but doctors are faced with prescribing these drugs as an ethical issue because only a patient can measure the pain they are in, it is simply impossible
Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and abuse is founded greater in the prescription opiate based painkillers.
Painkillers have been used for many years, and they have been beneficial to many. But one that recently took the market has been the topic of many controversial discussions. Oxycodone has always been used in modern medicine but in small amounts. OxyContin contained a higher amount of oxycodone than most opiate based pain killers, the weakest dose of OxyContin had double the amount found in said painkillers (Meier 12). This lead to the spread of abuse and addiction towards the drug. And a medicine made to do nothing but help became the subject of overdose and death. The creation of OxyContin was a triumph for modern medicine and a halo of light to people with chronic pains, but this drug now seems to carry a trail of addiction and abuse along with it.
Opioids are used as pain relievers and although it does the job, there are adverse side effects. Opioids are frequently used in the medical field, allowing doctors to overprescribe their patients. The substance can be very addicting to the dosage being prescribed to the patient. Doctors are commonly prescribing opioids for patients who have mild, moderate, and severe pain. As the pain becomes more severe for the patient, the doctor is more likely to increase the dosage. The increasing dosages of the narcotics become highly addicting. Opioids should not be prescribed as pain killers, due to their highly addictive chemical composition, the detrimental effects on opioid dependent patients, the body, and on future adolescents. Frequently doctors have become carless which causes an upsurge of opioids being overprescribed.
Nurses and agencies such as Brideway affect opioid related mortalities by providing information and helping the patients in need. Nurses can help patients understand the medication if they are prescribed it by physicians and the proper way to use the medication so they can decrease their risk of becoming addicted and agencies like Bridgeway can help patients if they become addicted learn how to safety detox from the medication and ways to prevent relapsing on the medication. Nurses need to be able to understand the opioid epidemic and how to be able to help patients so the number of deaths does not keep
In the United States, opioid addiction rates have majorly increased . Between 2000-2015 more than half a million individuals have died from Opioid overdose, and nearly 5 million people have an opioid dependence which has become a serious problem. The Center for Disease control reports that there are 91 deaths daily due to opioid abuse. Taking opioids for long periods of time and in
When these drugs attach to their receptors, they reduce the perception of pain and can produce a sense of well-being (Volkow, 2014). Two crucial factors have contributed to the severity of the current prescription abuse problem. The first factor is a dramatic spike in the number of prescriptions written and dispensed. In 1991, doctors wrote 76 million prescriptions for opioid pain relievers, but by 2013, the number had skyrocketed to 207 million prescriptions.
By the year 2000 opioid medicine containing oxycodone etc., are being abused and misused and more than doubled in 10 years’ time.
The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such. Not to mention the fact that the doctors who prescribe these opioids often tend to misuse them as well. Abusing these prescribed drugs can “destroy dreams and abort great destinies," and end the possibility of the abuser to have a positive impact in the community.
The next time you consider popping ibuprofen, for a headache or joint pain, understand that relief may come with a deadly price — heart attack, stroke and potentially life threatening gastrointestinal bleeding.
Potent pain medication contains the aspects of utilizing medications such as morphine or demerol, how the medications are dispensed, and t...
Aranella, Cheryl, MD., M.P.H. Use of Opiates to Manage Pain in the Seriously and Terminally Ill Patient. American Hospice Foundation, 2006. Web. 7 November 2011.
3. Most users roll it into a cigarette called a "joint", or into a cigar called a "blunt". Users may also smoke it in a water pipe referred to as a "bong" or they can eat it by mixing it into different foods called "special food".
The following speech is to be presented to the youth of America currently enrolled as High School Students. The topic of the War on Drugs directly coincides with the War on Terrorism. In order to stop terrorism, the funding through drugs must be stopped. The presenter will be using first person speech to make for a more personable presentation.