How to Tackle America’s Opioid Crisis?

Much the result of a poor understanding of how to treat chronic pain, the United States has in recent years been rocked by an unprecedented drug crisis: The opioid epidemic.

Opioids include drugs derived from opium, such as heroin, as well as semi-synthetic and synthetic drugs, notably oxycodone (OxyContin), which produce a similar morphine-like effect.

Official reports suggest that deaths in the US resulting from the use of such drugs have increased fourfold since the turn of the twentieth century.

According to The Aspen Institute Health Strategy Group, several options for tackling the problem exist. These are listed below:

1. Stop overprescribing:

• Prescription practices should be better regulated to ensure best practice. In other words, opioids ought only to be prescribed out of medical necessity.
• Healthcare professionals, including doctors, dentists and pharmacists, have a key role to play in this regard.

2. Provide access to treatment:

• There is strong evidence to suggest that combined therapies can help to combat opioid addiction. These involve the prescription of treatment drugs, such as methadone and naltrexone, used in conjunction with behavioural therapies that develop motivation and coping skills.
• There is also a need for healthcare professionals to check patients’ medical records more closely for past substance use, which may indicate susceptibility to future addiction.

3. Stop unnecessary deaths:

• Naloxone blocks the effects of opioids and, if administered promptly, can save lives.
• There are calls for this drug to become more freely available over the counter.

4. Treat opioid addiction as a health issue:

• The Federal Bureau of Prisons in the US argues that treating opioid addiction not as a criminal issue, but as a medical condition, has both reduced reoffending and freed up more options for users upon re-entry into society.

5. Invest in data and knowledge:

• There remains a need for more research into pain management to encourage best medical practice, and therefore appropriate use of opioids.

Click here to find out more on the BBC’s website.

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