We are working hard to bend the curve of the opioid crisis
here in Ohio. The cause of the crisis is
complex and so is the remedy. Statistics
examining the last several months have not yet been released, but the trend
over the past several years is very troubling.
When I first learned that Ohio was the epicenter of opioidmania, I was
quite shocked, as I wrongly thought that this plague would spare the
heartland. In contrast, it seems the
heartland is ground zero. While I have
no specific expertise in addiction medicine or sociology, here are my
speculations on some of the contributors to the current crisis.
- Aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies.
- Deceptive marketing by pharmaceutical companies claiming non-addictive potential of their products.
- Economic decline and hopelessness.
- Increasing expectation by the public of a pain free existence.
- Physicians prescribing opioids, rather than non-addictive alternatives, in response to a new prescribing culture for these agents.
- Physicians writing opioid prescriptions containing more pills than necessary.
- Increasing availability of affordable, illicit opioids.
Ohio overdose deaths were
3613 in 2016 and 5232 for the 12 months prior to June 2017.
A popular bromide is to accuse the medical profession of
spawning the crisis. While my profession
clearly bears responsibility here, I think the causes are multifactorial. The reason it is so important to have a clear
understanding of all the causes is that this is essential to successfully formulate a strategy to combat the
epidemic.
It is a much easier task to prevent addiction than it is to
treat it. While I support treatment
efforts, experts have told me that the probability that an opioid addict can
conquer the addiction is rather dismal.
We all have heard vignettes of addicts who are revived multiple times by
paramedics with naloxone, who immediately afterwards return to their addiction.
If fact, some individuals have raised
the question if there should be a limit on the number of times that an
individual should be revived. I am not
supporting this effort, but merely reporting on it here. However, city budgets have limited
resources. How might a city’s residents
respond if someone died of a heart attack because the paramedics were treating
an overdose victim for the 5th time?
This is going to be tough work, but I think it’s a battle we must wage. Moreover, I truly
believe that real progress is possible and is ahead. If we are all pushing in the same direction, then we can start to bend the curve.
Excellent post, Michael. The book “Dreamland” verifies all your reasons and adds a few critical ones such as the Mexican Drug Cartels that targeted these areas. I recommend this book as an important read for anyone searching to understand how we got here. Like individual addiction, the mess we are in is hard to treat, but we are making progress. Doctors today are much more likely to treat opioids with the respect they deserve to help and to hurt.
ReplyDelete@Elliot, thanks for the comment and the book suggestions. Elliot is a thoughtful physician and blogger and I commend readers to check him out. Perhaps, this testimonial will encourage him to reach for his blogger's pen more often!
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