CDC Takes Action to Stem Deaths from Drug Overdoses

Maureen MurdockAddiction4 Comments

addiction and prescription drugs

There is an epidemic of deaths from drug overdoses in nearly every county across the U.S. driven by an increase in addiction to both prescription painkillers like OxyCondin, Vicodin and Percocet as well as heroin. The number of these deaths reached 47,055 people in 2014, equivalent to 125 Americans everyday.

West Virginia, which has many blue-collar workers who tend to experience work-related chronic pain, has the highest overdose death rate in the nation. Drug deaths have also skyrocketed in New Hampshire and New Mexico, which has had high multi-generational death rates from heroin overdoses since the 1990s. The NY Times recently did a front-page article about the public face of heroin addiction. People inject themselves on city buses in Philadelphia, church bathrooms in Cambridge, Mass and the bathrooms of fast food restaurants, parks, hospitals and libraries across the nation. No longer hidden in back alleys, and not enough treatment facilities to address this national scourge.

Today the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) released new guidelines for the prescription of painkillers to stem the tide of opioid deaths. Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the CDC, said, “We lose sight of the fact that prescription opioids are just as addictive as heroin.” The guidelines recommend that doctors first try ibuprofen and aspirin to treat pain and that opioid treatment for short-term pain be limited to only 3 days and no longer than 7 days except to relieve end-of-life discomfort. Dr. Frieden pointed out that one study found 1 out of every 32 patients who started on opioid therapy at high doses died of opioid related causes within 2 ½ years after their first prescription.

This is the first time the federal government has communicated to the medical community and the pharmaceutical industry that long-term use of opioids is inappropriate. Hopefully, the next step in the successful treatment of opioid and heroin addiction will be drug-free alternative approaches such as acupuncture.

 

 

4 Comments on “CDC Takes Action to Stem Deaths from Drug Overdoses”

  1. At Last, the medical profession and Federal government are waking up to the problem and taking steps to bring it under control, at least for the opioid prescription painkillers. Our Federal, State and local governments must get serious about creating and supporting treatment facilities, staff, and techniques for opioid addicts instead of just talking about it. California Governor Brown promised this two years ago as part of his plan to reduce the prison population in compliance with the court order to do so, but where are they? It’s time to make this happen. Acupuncture treatment looks very promising and should be supported.
    Bill

    1. You’re right, Bill, Governor Bill has done nothing to back up his promise. In comparison, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, has proposed $600 million in emergency funding to address the opioid crisis in her state. We certainly need more leadership across the nation now that people are finally realizing it’s a medical issue, not an issue to be criminalized.

  2. Ugh. I just wrote a long, well-thought out, passionate comment! AND I DON”T KNOW WHERE IT WENT…Sigh. Thank you for this article. It is very necessary.

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