Do you know an Opioid Addict?
Mark 'RxProfessor' Pew
International speaker & author on the intersection of chronic pain and appropriate treatment | Consultant
When I ask that question in my presentations, usually about 30-40% of attendees raise their hands. The way I frame it is ... "Not someone you've read about online, or a story you've seen on TV, but someone you personally know who has struggled with opioid and/or heroin abuse". Sadly, about half of them keep their hands raised when I ask a follow-up question ... "How many of you know someone who has died from opioids and/or heroin".
Do you know someone? Chances are, you do.
An April 2016 tracking poll conducted by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation corresponds with my less scientific approach:
Forty-four percent say they personally know someone who has been addicted to prescription painkillers, with about a quarter (26 percent) saying the person they know is an acquaintance, 21 percent saying a close friend, 20 percent saying a family member, and 2 percent saying themselves
There are a variety of other interesting findings included:
- 75% believe access to care for people with substance abuse issues is a problem
- 35% say heroin abuse is an extremely serious problem while only 28% have the same opinion of prescription painkillers
- 52% believe that heroin users face prejudice and discrimination while only 38% believe the same of prescription painkillers
With all of the buzz about the separate but related epidemics, it's surprising to hear that people don't think enough is being done by various stakeholders about prescription painkillers and heroin:
- Federal government - 66% (Rx), 62% (heroin)
- State governments - 67% (Rx), 61% (heroin)
- Doctors who prescribe prescription painkillers - 63% (Rx), 56% (heroin)
- Individuals who use prescription painkillers or heroin - 73% (Rx), 77% (heroin)
- Police officers - 37% (Rx), 36% (heroin)
In regards to access to Naloxone (the opioid "antidote"), 59% believe that a prescription should be required while 36% believe a prescription should not be required.
Finally, there are mixed opinions on what will best solve the issue:
- 88% - Increasing pain management training for medical students and doctors
- 86% - Increasing access to addiction treatment programs
- 84% - Public education and awareness programs
- 83% - Increasing research about pain and pain management
- 82% - Monitoring doctors’ prescription painkiller prescribing habits
- 63% - Encouraging people who are prescribed painkillers to dispose of any extras once they are no longer medically necessary
- 60% - Reducing the social stigma around addiction
- 49% - Putting warning labels on prescription drug bottles that explain the risk of addiction
This August 7 USA Today opinion article by two professors sheds some additional light on the impacts of laws designed to help. Along with this astounding fact:
22% of 2 million disabled adult workers under the age of 65 filled prescriptions for opioids throughout the year; 8% received prescriptions from multiple prescribers; 5-6% received high doses
So what does this all mean? While there is an ever-increasing sophistication in a general understanding about the epidemic, there is much more progress to be made. Not just in actually addressing the issue, but also in educating about the issue. While I'm generally not in favor of conducting public policy by polling and surveys, there are some insights here that are helpful to those of us on the front line trying to help. If you've read any of my previous blogposts or articles, you know I have the "all of the above" approach - throw everything and the kitchen sink at it.
The bottom line for me - While top-down strategies are a necessary part of the battle, to fully win this war a bottom-up approach is required. Meaning changing the hearts and minds of every single American about this subject, and providing avenues of care to help those caught in substance abuse to overcome their addiction. Are you in?
CLAIMS: Helping Claimants Understand and Win Their Disability Claims <> Disability, Life, Health, Social Security, SSDI <>
8 年Abel raises a good point - addiction secondary to surgery or medical issues. From what I understand (and I use that term loosely since I feel we know so little), once detoxed, formerly addicted folks are precluded from receiving opioids even if medically necessary due to surgery, etc.
International speaker & author on the intersection of chronic pain and appropriate treatment | Consultant
8 年An offline comment from a friend - "I have a friend who recently lost her 29 yr old son to an accidental overdose from OPIOIDs. Started with a complex surgery, he had major adhesions and problems, many surgeries later he continued to have more and more pain and inability to function - severe abdominal pain and ultimately an accidental overdose...... He was on the drug due to his severe pain, after surgery it was appropriate for his pain, but in discussion with his mom – many, many conversations with the doctors got them no where on other alternatives, - it was easy to administer and move on…. There is always devastation left behind in these situations….."
CLAIMS: Helping Claimants Understand and Win Their Disability Claims <> Disability, Life, Health, Social Security, SSDI <>
8 年I'm in. You barely scratched the surface on how addiction, and the drugs of choice, has changed in the last 25 years or so. I recently read that drug addiction is down in the inner-cities/lower income areas because the costs of the drugs have skyrocketed. We have much work to do. Thanks, Mark.