The crisis refers to the rapid increase in prescription opioid pain pills in the United States, This increase has led to skyrocketing rates of heroin use. This increase has also led to a significant increase in addiction and health related complications.
The crisis refers to the rapid increase in prescription opioid pain pills in the United States, This increase has led to skyrocketing rates of heroin use. This increase has also led to a significant increase in addiction and health related complications.
WHAT ARE OPIOIDS ?
Opioids refers to various substances derived from opium. Morphine is a natural opioid, while other opioid substances such as oxycontin, fentanyl, and methadone are synthetic or semi-synthetic opioids. Heroin is an illegally- produced opioid synthesized from morphine (CDC, 2018).
WHAT IS THE OPIOID CRISIS IN THE UNITED STATES?
The crisis refers to the rapid increase of opioid dependence in the United States.
This increase has led to skyrocketing rates of heroin use, addiction-related issues and health-related complications (HHS, 2018).
The Data
2.1 million people in the US have an opioid use disorder (HHS, 2018).
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Suspected overdoses increased 30 percent from July 2016 through September 2017 (CDC, 2018).
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In 2017, 28,466 deaths had a connection to the use of opioids (HHS, 2019).
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A small town in Mingo County, WV, with a population of 3,100 people had 2.1 million tablets of the painkiller hydrocodone sent to a single pharmacy over a five year period (Eyre, 2016).
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Nearly 218,000 people have died from overdoses connected to opioids between 1999 through 2017 (CDC, 2017).
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The Impact
The abuse of opioids is a national crisis that affects the social welfare of many parents and children (AMA, 2018).
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The opioid crisis has had a significant impact on communities, individuals the workforce, individual states, and the country at large (HHS, 2018).
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Opioids are linked to other public health concerns such as increased risk of HIV and Hepatitis C, and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). NAS refers to the impact of opioids on infants of addicted mothers (HHS, 2018).
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