Reflection 11/22/19

This week we talked about the opioid epidemic in the United States. When it comes to this crisis there is much to take into consideration. The crisis is not new and has been around for years. The crisis has come in three waves starting with the 1990's where opioid prescription numbers started to increase and this followed with a rise in overdose deaths. The second wave, in 2010, marked the rise of heroin induced deaths due to the fact that those addicted to prescriptions had to find a more readily available alternative. The third wave of 2013 was due to the fact that over dose deaths were most commonly due to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. When it comes to opioids, they have a range of uses but are mostly used for pain relief. Opioids have three levels; opiates, semi-synthetic, and synthetic. Each level is a further breakdown or derivative of the earlier. Opiates come directly from the juice of the Papaver Somniferum plant and are used to raise the pain threshold and reduce the pain signals to the brain. When it comes to the crisis, individuals who are prescribed these opioids have the potential to be addicted, but not all do. When it comes to this, there are medical guidelines that are put in place to try to regulate usage of the drugs. Although these guidelines are in place, there are ways that addicts can get around them. When it comes to opioids, simple exposure to the drug is enough to be a risk factor for addiction. To try and fix this, regulators have decreased the number of opioid prescriptions that are written yearly; it used to be 88 prescriptions per 100 individuals but it has been decreased to 59. Writing prescriptions is only half the problem though. The prescriptions may not be going to the intended person. Most of these prescription drugs are being given to family and friends for free due to the need for pain relief. In retrospect only 6% of opioids come from the "streets", which shows how complicated the problem actually is. There have been many efforts to try and reduce this crisis but yet the numbers are still on the rise. In 2016 nearly 64,000 people died due to drug overdose and 66% of them were from opioids. This is more than guns and car accidents. When you put this into perspective you are able to understand that drastic change in culture. A lot of people turn to  pharmacists and physicians for blame, but it is more than that. Physicians and pharmacists have a job and it is to aid the patient based on their need. They cannot control patients that lie about their pain tolerances or that chose to go to a more dangerous alternative to get their fix. I do believe that a way that the crisis can change will have to start with these professions tho. Physicians and pharmacists need to be more sensitive when it comes to opioid prescriptions. When they have a patient in need of these strong drugs, they should immediately think to take more time explaining how to use the drugs as well as the harmful effects that can come from them. administering proper education can change the patients mind when it comes to the choice of whether they are going to properly follow the regimen or not. Taking more time to get to know the patient also allows you to do a behind the scenes personality and behavior check so that the next time they come in to get their prescription, you can tell whether their tendencies have changed or not. Something that could also help with the crisis would be limiting the number and strength of prescriptions. I think that limiting the number of pills in a prescription or the strength of them would help decrease the speed of addiction. Physicians and pharmacists would get a better take on what the patients are acting like and whether they are actually reacting to the drugs or not. I think that the crisis effects more individuals than society knows and that there has to be some serious regulations out in place or alternatives made in order to better health.

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