The Problem of Overdosing with Opioids Introduction

By definition, any incident of overdosing is a problem, but the problem is especially severe in the case of opioids since these can be life-threatening. Moreover, the United States has experienced a veritable epidemic in opioid abuse in recent years to the point where many police departments across the country routinely furnish their officers with Narcon (Naltrexone), a life-saving drug used for opioid overdoses, as part of their law enforcement equipment. Nevertheless, the number of deaths attributable to opioid overdoses continue to increase, and these trends can be reasonably expected to continue unless and until something is done. To determine how opioid overdoses pose a serious public health threat and a discussion concerning how the problem became so pronounced today is followed by a summary of the research and key findings about these issues in the conclusion.

Review and Analysis

Innovations in modern medicine have resulted in the introduction of a number of powerful opioid-based analgesics that are far more effective at relieving pain than any drugs that were available in the past. For example, Dineen and DuBois report that, “Opioids play a unique role in society. They are essential medications [which are] the most effective drugs for the relief of pain and suffering” (1). During an era when effective pain management has assumed new importance and relevance for health care practitioners and consumers, these advances in pharmacology have been...

In this regard, Dineen and DuBois stress that opioids are “widely feared compounds which are associated with abuse, addiction and the dire consequences of diversion” (1).
Not surprisingly, some physicians have grown increasingly wary of prescribing opioids for pain management, but the above-mentioned emphasis on pain relief together with relentless lobbying efforts by the pharmaceutical industry have caused many to continue overprescribing these medications (1). The reluctance of some physicians to prescribe opioids is readily understandable in view of the alarming statistics that have been compiled by the U.S. federal government and private sector organizations concerning the number of overdose cases that have assumed epidemic proportions in recent years.

Although the precise number of opioid overdose cases remains unknown, statistics aggregated by the National Institute of Drug Abuse show that around 16,000 Americans died as a result of nonmedical opioid overdoses in 2010 alone (2) while figures reported by the Centers for Disease Control place the figure much higher at around 37,000 deaths in 2010 due to opioid overdosing (3). These significant differences may be attributable to the manner in which these respective organizations categorize opioid-related deaths as well as differences in reporting criteria.

More troubling still, though, as shown in Figure 1 below, the rate of opioid overdoses has continued to increase since 2010…