CNN stated, “One person dies every 19 minutes from a prescription drug overdose in the United States.” In an effort to combat misuse and abuse of prescription drugs, the Food and Drug Administration is proposing new restrictions that would change the rules for some normally prescribed narcotic painkillers (Bentz).
The increase of addiction to prescription drugs has increased over the past few years. As a result the amount of pharmacy robberies has amplified as well. Certain patients are going to multiple physicians in order to get controlled prescriptions; this is called “doctor shopping.” They are then filling the prescriptions at different pharmacies by paying “out of pocket,” without insurance. Filling prescriptions without insurance and at different pharmacies allows patients to get the medications more frequently. Insurance companies usually limit people from filling prescriptions early (before their medication runs out). It has been too simple to get control prescriptions from doctors in this day and age. Physicians have been arrested for writing narcotic prescriptions unnecessarily and too easily. Some patients even steal prescription pads from the doctor’s offices, in order to write their own prescriptions for controlled medications. It is the pharmacist’s role to spot these “fake” prescriptions. This is a vicious cycle and it needs to be stopped.
Finally in 2012, a law named the Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing (I-STOP) was signed in New York to help crack down on prescription drug abuse. The I-STOP law includes a series of requirements to revamp the way prescription drugs are distributed and tracked in New York. Physicians will have to check the registry for a patient’s prescription history. The I-STOP repo...
... middle of paper ...
...em is already helping to fight Long Island's pain pill abuse epidemic and imparting doctors and pharmacists with knowledge they never had access to before. Three doctors called me today who discharged patients after they learned that the patients were doctor shopping because of I-STOP, so I'd say the system is working out pretty well so far” (Deutsch).
Putting a stop to this situation puts us one step closer to decreasing the numbers of deaths caused by the prescription drug abuse epidemic. It has taken the lives of so many and we cannot sit back and let this continue to occur. This law will allow doctors and pharmacists to access the information they need to make sure that dangerous prescription drugs stay out of the wrong hands. With the new system and the increased amount of drug abuse programs there are, hopefully people can kick the habit get their lives back.
The United States of America accounts for only 5% of the world’s population, yet as a nation, we devour over 50% of the world’s pharmaceutical medication and around 80% of the world’s prescription narcotics (American Addict). The increasing demand for prescription medication in America has evoked a national health crisis in which the government and big business benefit at the expense of the American public.
More than often, American’s argue that if we have the technology to gain access to these “miracle meds”, then we should take advantage of it. To receive an opposing view, the National Institute of Drug Abuse asked teens around America why they think prescription drugs are overused, and the results were shocking; 62%: “Easy to get from parent's medicine cabinets”, 51%: “They are not illegal drugs”, 49%: “Can claim to have prescription if caught”, 43%: “They are cheap”, 35%: “Safer to use than illegal drugs”, 33%: “Less shame attached to using”, 32%: “Fewer side effects than street drugs”, 25%: “Can be used as study aids”, and 21%: “Parents don't care as much if caught”. I believe the major problem here isn’t the medication, but instead the fact that our nation is extremely uninformed on the “do’s and dont’s” of prescription medication. When “the United States is 5 percent of the world’s population and consumes 75 percent of the the world's prescription drugs” (CDC), there is a problem present, no matter the reason. Clearly, many critics believe the breathtaking amount of pills we consume in America is simply for the better good, but tend to forget the effects that are soon to follow.
With a new framework, anything can turn out badly, the framework could fall flat or the information can be stolen. Despicable employments of gathered data are all potential doors for a claim. Indicting the medicinal services industry has in the previous couple of decades been a lucrative endeavour for lawyers attempting to right the wrong done to a patient, whether by exclusion or commission.
Buppert (2016) went through many tips for providers when prescribing controlled substances. While, you and I may not consider prescribing a large dose of opioids without doing a physical exam, this particular nurse practitioner did that very thing multiple times. Buppert (2016) also discussed the importance of using drug-monitoring databases. By using these databases a provider can prevent prescribing medication to a patient
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
Prescription and pharmaceutical drug abuse is beginning to expand as a social issue within the United States because of the variety of drugs, their growing availability, and the social acceptance and peer pressure to uses them. Many in the workforce are suffering and failing at getting better due to the desperation driving their addiction.
Using a prescription drug monitoring program helps cut down on “doctor shopping” and helps prevent accidental overdoses when mixing medications. Doctors and pharmacists who communicate during patient care and look for alternatives to opioids also make an impact on addiction before it starts.
This act was designed to address the distribution of cocaine and opiates; however, physicians were still able to prescribe these narcotics to patients with a medical need, but were not able to prescribe them to addicts. One remaining effect of this act is a warning that states “Warning: May be habit forming” that can be found on the label or package insert that is affiliated with opioids, barbiturates, medicinal formulations of cocaine, and chloral hydrate.
...d has cut down the illegal distribution of prescription drugs. It cuts down on medical costs for the patient by allowing the physician to view what insurance coverage the patient carries for certain medications and. providing lists of similar generic drugs. E-prescribing is just one part of U.S. government’s goal to gradually adopting standards facilitating the shift to all electronic medical records for citizens. Although it has only been available for a short time, electronic-prescribing has already made an impressively large impact on the medical field.
One of the fastest growing problems in America today is the abuse of prescription drugs. In the past 10 years, the misuse of prescribed medications has skyrocketed, making it a National issue that many people are attempting to attack. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse: opiates, depressants, and stimulants are the three drug classifications most commonly abused by Americans (Kendall 175). The abuse of opioids will be the main focus of this paper, however depressants and stimulants will be briefly discussed as well. A multitude of research on the subject has concluded that there is more than a single solution to the problem, involving taking immediate action as well as making prevention efforts. Looking at the functionalist and symbolic interactionist perspectives help sociologist to identify causes, effects, and solutions of the abuse of prescription drugs in America.
Many dangers of prescription drugs are a result of the lack of government influence and supervision in the pharmaceutical industry. It is a business that has free reign to run itself (Perkins). This creates many problems for American consumers. One of these problems is the outrageously high prices of pharmaceuticals. They are nearly impossible to afford for those without insurance, or with insurance that doesn’t cover prescription drugs. Studies performed by the Kaiser Family Foundation show that, “private employer-sponsored health-insurance premiums rose 13.9% this year, the most since 1989”, a trend that is expected to continue for many years to come (Coy). The rising costs of health insurance along with the already high prices of prescription drugs make pharmaceuticals difficult for many Americans to afford.
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.
One of the questions researchers ask is; why do people abuse and misuse prescription drugs? knowing that abusing drugs can get them killed and that those drugs are highly addictive. “Prescription drugs were involved in 82% of the 384 overdose deaths investigated by the Victorian coroner's court in 2014”.Doctors knowing that these prescription drugs are the cause of most of the deaths by overdosing, so why are they still prescribing them? And another question researchers ask is how do people get there hands on prescription drugs, if there not being prescribed to them.
"Prescription Drug Abuse: Strategies to Stop the Epidemic." - Trust for America's Health. N.p., 2013. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
West Virginia has one of the highest rates for prescription drug abuse, and overdose in the nation. In order to change this it is important to understand what pharmacists do, their role in prevention, and the severity of prescription drug abuse. Pharmacists are known to dispense prescription drugs to patients and inform them about their use; However, one aspect of their career most people overlook is that Pharmacists must keep a sharp eye out for criminals looking to abuse these prescribed drugs.