According to the “Chasing Herion” video medical staff believe that the use of opioids can be in a positive way. Dr.Russel states “The likelihood that the treatment of pain using an opioid drug which is prescribed by a doctor will lead to addiction is extremely low.” Thus supporting this claim. Opioids will be used to treat AIDS and other pain causing diseases.…
8). It has been shown that prescription opioid abuse is creating an escalating burden on society (Birnbaum, White, Schiller, Waldman, Cleveland & Roland, 2011, p. 662). Opiate addiction as a whole, produces increased health care costs. Costs related to prevention, treatments, and research. There are increased costs of the criminal justice system, correctional facilities and property lost due to crime. Opiate addiction is known to decrease workplace productivity. Not only are there lost wages and excess absenteeism at work, there is also excess disability costs (Birnbaum, et al., 2011, p.…
Opiate addiction is a chronic disease that affects millions of people in the Unites States. This deadly epidemic is one that in most cases requires some form of medical treatment. There are many treatment options available to those struggling with addiction. The three most well-known options are rapid detox, suboxone, and methadone maintenance (Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Addiction Facts for Families and Friends). Though each form of treatment has its own advantages and disadvantages, they all have one common goal; drug freedom. Research has shown that those receiving treatment are nearly twice as likely to achieve their goal of drug freedom (Mayo Clinic).…
by the addiction of pain medication. While some people believe this to be a safe alternative way…
There is controversy of doctors overprescribing opioids to patients with chronic pain, which results in to patients becoming addicted and dependent on the drug. In 2012, Eric L Garland conducted a study in which where he researched the correlation between an opioid-dependent group and how a non-dependent group. He supported his study by including many statistics, significant information, and how accurate the data was. However, this study does not provide a valid argument that opioids are detrimental to our health. The research that was taken in this data was to see the correlation between participants taking opioids, and how opioids influenced their daily life compared to non-dependent opioid participants. Garland supported his research…
Beauchamp, G., Winstanley, E., Ryan, S., & Lyons, M. (2014). Moving Beyond Misuse and Diversion: The Urgent Need to Consider the Role of latrogenic Addiction in the Current Opioid Epidemic. American Journal of Public Health, 104(11), 2023-2029. Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=9c6b200b-1bf9-44be-9fe6-32bfa66a4498@sessionmgr111&hid=114…
Some critics of replacement therapy believe that all opiate use is wrong, this includes therapeutic use in the surgical setting and long term opiate use for chronic pain. (Hall)…
Longer-Term Use of Opioids With opioid misuse a top public health problem in the United States, this report examined longer-term use of narcotics in 21 states and how often recommended treatment guidelines for monitoring injured workers with longer-term use were followed by physicians. The monitoring included services, such as drug testing and psychological evaluations, which can help prevent opioid misuse by injured workers that could result in overdose deaths, addiction, and diversion. However, the study found relatively low compliance with medical treatment guidelines in most states. The information provided will help public officials identify means to strengthen the design or implementation of public policies related to narcotic use, and help payors target efforts to better manage the use of narcotics while providing appropriate care to injured workers and reducing unnecessary risks to patients and unnecessary costs to employers. Among the study’s finding: • Among 2009/2011 claims with longer-term use of narcotics, 18-30 percent received drug testing in most states studied, with the 21-state median at 24 percent. Over the study period, the percentage of workers with longer-term use of narcotics who received at least one drug testing increased from 14 to 24 percent in the median state. However, the use of the service was still lower than recommended by treatment guidelines. The use of psychological evaluation and treatment services continued to be low. Only 4–7 percent of the injured workers with longer-term narcotic use received these services in the median state. Even in the state with highest use of these services, only 1 in 4 injured workers with longer-term narcotic use had psychological evaluation and 1 in 6 received psychological treatment. Little change was seen in the frequency of use of these services.…
The midst, eldest and most long-standing substances used for the management of pain and other medical complications is opioids. It is well-known that the naturally occurring opioids (primarily morphine and codeine), the related endogenous opioid-like peptides and synthetic chemical substances have properties that can be indorsed to action that is mediated by binding at the various opioids receptors within the central and peripheral nervous systems. A number of opioids are available for clinical use, including morphine, hydromorphone, levorphanol, oxymorphone, methadone, meperidine, oxycodone, and fentanyl.…
The concepts of this theory are the balance between analgesia and side effects, pain, and side effects themselves. Opioid analgesics often have very unpleasant side effects, so the end result is often patients taking less medication than they actually need, which results in pain not being effectively relieved. The combination of potent analgesics, pharmacological and non-pharmacological adjuvants can allow for the pain relief needed and also help minimize or eliminate unwanted side effects. Nurses can work with the patient to educate them on the side effects of potent medication and help them set realistic goals. This will entail working with both the patient and physician to achieve the results desired.…
What was once an effective solution for managing chronic pain has become one of the most commonly abused substances in our society, causing the need for a monitored and effective plan for treating chemically dependent individuals and their addiction to opiate’s. Ghodse (2012) stated that addiction to opiates is a disease causing malfunctions of the brain; it has effects on the mind and body requiring a specific medication in the treatment plan, and is recognized as being the most effective. Deaths should only occur from old age; that’s not the case now days and it’s because of this horrible addiction. It’s one of the risks taken from abusing opioids. It’s gotten so bad teenagers are dying from it. Are opiates worth giving your life to? No drug is worth my life! For those that feel it’s impossible to stop, ask a doctor about buprenorphine. It’s what doctor’s use for treating this addiction and acts as an opioid receptor in the brain (Ghodse, 2012). Yeah it’s great there’s a solution to help stop substance abuse, but never using is a lot more effective for your life. Shoenfeld (2012) made it clear that once you start abusing opiates, most require treatment in order to stop…
With the current prescription system, there are many people who get addicted to the drug that they're prescribed. One in four teens admit to misusing a prescription drug, which is a 33 percent increase in the past five years (Goldberg 1). Many teens get the drug to help with their disease, and while it helps, it also causes addiction. If the prescription system is eliminated, there is a high chance of many more teens also becoming addicted to prescription painkillers. The most addictive drugs on the market are the mood altering drugs (Turner 1). Mood altering drugs are the most popular due to many people enjoying the feeling of the drug. Jerry who was a past addict says that he went to extreme lengths to get his next fix of painkillers; going as far as to steal from people who need the drugs (1). Even with prescriptions there are some people who will do extreme actions to get their painkillers. With no prescription system the chances of more people like Jerry are high. Strangely enough, while people take prescription drugs to better themselves, it can also be very harmful to people who take too many drugs (3). With no prescription system, there will be more people using more drugs. With that in hand, it can lead to more fatalities and damage to society. The prescription painkiller addiction is so bad that there have been more cases of overdose, the was caused by heroin and cocaine combined (1). Even so, while there has been many cases of addiction the prescription painkillers, it is safer that the doctor prescribes the drug than the user determining when to use it (2).…
As he comes off the field, an athlete notices he has a subtle pain in his shoulder. Determined to finish out the season strong, he takes two tablets of aspirin in hopes of healing the beginnings of an injury. What the athlete does not know about the painkillers could affect him later down the road, especially if he upholds his mentality of constantly taking aspirin whenever he senses an injury in the making. Painkillers are drugs that simply mask the pain many people suffer from on a daily basis. Globally, humans are using painkillers to cope with pains ranging from headaches to arthritis inflammation. Although painkillers offer many benefits, society has become too dependent on these instantaneous cures. When asked what invention they could not live without, twice as many people answered aspirin rather than their personal computer. Although the study was completed in 1996, the same holds true today. Every…
Twenty-six patients were excluded from exploratory analysis because they left treatment due to preexisting legal issues leading to incarceration and medical conditions unrelated to their buprenorphine treatment such as chronic pain, advanced stage AIDS and various other unrelated complications, or transferred to another office based opioid treatment program due to relocation or consolidating their care, leaving 382 patients. This group, was predominantly male (sixty six percent) and white (sixty six percent). The mean age was thirty nine years; thirty five percent were employed at admission. Co-morbidities were common; sixty six percent reported psychiatric illness and fifty percent tested positive for the hepatitis C antibody. On admission, patients were using the following: sixty percent heroin (with or without prescription opioids); seventeen percent prescription opioids exclusively; thirteen percent methadone from a maintenance program; and nine percent buprenorphine from another office based opioid treatment program. Past year use of tobacco eighty percent and cocaine forty three percent was common. Eighty-five percent reported a history of inpatient detoxification, fifty eight percent past opioid agonist maintenance treatment, ten percent current use of illicit buprenorphine; forty six percent reported a history of opioid overdose. At twelve months, fifty…
Esteban, J., Gineno, C., Barril, J., Aragones, A., Climent, J.M., de la Cruz and Pellin, M. (2003) Survival study of opioid addicts in relation to its adherence to methadone maintenance treatment. Drug and Alcohol Dependency, 70, 193-200.…