Opioids, also known as narcotics, are medications prescribed by doctors to treat persistent or severe pain. Some common types of Opioids are known as Codeine, Fentanyl, Oxycodone, and Morphine. Opioids were originally created for the purpose of pain management but have been known to be abused. In the 1990’s there was a massive marketing scheme from pharmaceutical companies for their new opioid pills. This coincided with a nationwide push to take patient pain more seriously. “In 2015, more than 33,000 Americans died as a result of an opioid overdose and an estimated 2 million people in the United States suffered from substance use disorders. Opioid overdoses increased 30 percent from July 2016 through September 2017 in 52 areas in 45 states” (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2019). Opioid abuse has resulted to be a difficult and complex problem.

Opioids are prescribed by a doctor to minimize one’s pain from trauma, post-operative pain, acute illness, fractures, etc. These are all examples of acute pain; which lasts a few days to a week. Doctors have advised that during that particular time frame is when individuals should be prescribed narcotics and after that week, the person is recommended to take over the counter medications to alleviate any other discomfort they may experience. Despite the fact that doctors have been given certain guidelines to follow, some tend to ignore the recommendations and thus leads to increased risk for their patients.

Along with this, society has placed the majority of the blame on doctors due to their lack of knowledge and education. A physician stated ‘“In medical school we were always told not to under treat pain in patients and that patients don’t become addicted to opioids when they really have pain”’ (Hubbard, Hodge Jr., & Rempel, 2018, p.169). Issuing the prescriptions writes off the patient but the patient then writes a satisfied survey, creating good results for the doctor. “After all dispensing prescriptions has become so commonplace that patients expect to obtain medication orders as part of a standard medical visit and they may leave the office dissatisfied if this expectation is not fulfilled” (Hubbard, Hodge Jr., & Rempel, 2018, p.169). As a result, opioids have become an overprescribed problem throughout the nation along with its serious side effects/consequences to the patient.

References

Hubbard, J., Hodge, S. D., & Rempel, R. (2018). Opioid Abuse: The Fall of a Prince. Quinnipiac Health Law Journal, 21(2), 159–202. Retrieved from http://library.neit.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lgs&AN=132837820&site=ehost-live

National Institute on Drug Abuse. (January 2019). Opioid Overdose Crisis. Retrieved from  https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis