Op-Ed
We’ve all heard the saying, “Trust me, I’m a doctor.” And generally, that seems like a good rule; doctors are in charge of making sure we aren’t causing irreversible harm to our bodies. But what do we do when doctors are the leading cause of one of the biggest opioid epidemics the United States has seen? The entire system, from the writing of prescriptions to how we deal with people addicted to opioids, needs a major overhaul.
Prescription opioids are dangerous in themselves, but it has become increasingly common for prescription opioid addicts to turn to heroin because it’s cheaper. Heroin is incredibly addictive and even easier to overdose on than prescription opioids. People call weed a gateway drug, but the real gateway drug in this case is the pain medication that has been prescribed for wisdom teeth removal or a broken bone.
Across the nation you can find similar, heart-crushing stories of towns ravaged by opioids. There have been a few pictures entering the media stream that have gripped the nation – pictures of parents overdosed in the front seat of their car, while their child was sitting in the back seat. The photos were released to raise awareness of how dire the situation has become in the United States. One mother lost three sons to opioid overdoses, I cannot imagine the pain that woman is going through.
Every day there are more and more stories of families torn apart by this epidemic. One of the more heartbreaking examples of how a drug prescribed to help a patient can actually kill you is the case of Tiffany from the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Tiffany was headed home with her son to visit her mother when she was in a car crash and was given an opioid prescription to help with the pain. When that prescription ran out Tiffany turned to the streets to find prescription pills, then to heroin, after her cousin died. Tiffany gained a fairly extensive rap sheet due to her constant need for heroin; petty thefts and credit card fraud helped her pay for her addiction. While pregnant, she eventually entered into a court-ordered treatment facility, but was kicked out for cursing at an employee.
Let’s think about this. A treatment facility put a 5-month pregnant woman who was going through withdrawals on the street for cussing at an employee. I would think that part of the job description for working in such a treatment center would be tolerating being cussed at by people going through the painful process of becoming clean.
But, back to Tiffany. She ended up on the street, 5-months pregnant, with no Suboxone (a medicine used to curb opioid cravings), and in danger of going to jail as she was in violation of her parole by getting kicked out of the treatment center. Two weeks later she overdosed on heroin and she and her unborn baby died. In the end Tiffany was a victim of a broken system that failed despite its best intentions. Tiffany’s son now lives with his grandmother but there will always be a hole in his life where his mother should be.
Drug abuse and addiction have been a pervasive issue in the United States – as well as the rest of the world. Despite all the victims of drug abuse, the government’s various wars on drugs, and well-meaning treatment programs, we still have not come up with a good system of helping those who have become addicted to drugs. This is indicative of a more systemic problem of blaming addicts for their addiction, suggesting that if they really wanted to be clean, addicts could stop using. A staggering 23% of people who try heroin just once become addicted, yet our medical system provides opioids like they are sugar pills. From 2000 to 2009 the number of opioid prescriptions increased by an astounding 35.2%.
People are losing children, parents, and friends to this opioid epidemic. President Obama even declared an opioid awareness week this past September to bring this silent plague in society into people’s awareness.
Personally, I trust doctors with most things in regard to my health. Over prescribing of medications is something that I considered to be an irrelevant worry until I took a deeper look at this epidemic. It makes me glad that I never took the Vicodin I was prescribed when I was 15 and got my wisdom teeth removed. My life could have ended up going down a very different path than the one I’m currently following.
References:
http://cathytaughinbaugh.com/25-facts-you-should-know-about-the-growing-heroin-epidemic/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle/2016/10/31/the-opioid-epidemic-now-extends-to-children-too/#5115be3d6fd7
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6450a3.htm
https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/legislative-activities/testimony-to-congress/2016/americas-addiction-to-opioids-heroin-prescription-drug-abuse
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/09/19/fact-sheet-obama-administration-announces-prescription-opioid-and-heroin
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3781814/Ohio-police-share-horrifying-photos-adults-passed-overdosing-car-toddler-backseat.html
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/04/18/opioid-profiles-rita-rogers
http://www.nsc.org/RxDrugOverdoseDocuments/evidence-summary-opioid-sales-use-and-increase-in-opioid-overdose.pdf
