Prescription drug abuse or the “opioid epidemic” is now the leading cause of unintentional death and hospitalization among Americans. In the past, prescription painkillers such as oxycontin were the drug of choice for chronic pain management. Nevertheless, after a while, other non-opioid pain relievers became more appealing to the public, especially those that did not require a doctor’s prescription. With the increased availability of prescription drugs, the number of deaths from a drug overdose or addiction increased steadily. This availability created a public health concern and a regulatory one, as more people were being exposed to the dangers of these drugs.
There are many reasons why prescription drugs became so popular in the United States. The most popular was their effectiveness in the face of chronic pain management. As people began to realize that they could now treat chronic pain with prescription drugs instead of visiting their doctors for medication, they started to use these medications for all sorts of ailments. Dr. Cory Harow also knows that prescription drugs also are very addictive and challenging to kick. The number of deaths and hospitalizations caused by the opiate epidemic has ramped up dramatically over the past few years.
There is also a wide range of prescription drug interactions. Because of this, long-term use of any prescription drug can result in severe liver damage, heart attack, and stroke. This combination of factors has created an emergency where the number of deaths due to prescription drug abuse has skyrocketed. With doctors continuing to prescribe these powerful painkillers even though they carry significant side effects, the government has been forced to act.
The federal drug administration has created programs that will test the new prescription drugs for side effects and harmful interactions. The objective is to get as numerous individuals from these dangerous painkillers as possible. States are also starting to pass bills that will go after pharmaceutical companies that manufacture these prescription drugs. The FDA is also encouraging physicians to start asking patients about their experience with their painkillers. Many individuals are willing to talk about the opioid epidemic and its frightening effects on their families, but it takes a trained eye to determine whether the prescription drugs are causing too much of a problem.
Many pharmaceutical companies have released drugs that will help curb the severity of the opiate crisis. Doctors and pharmacists are often reluctant to prescribe medication for these individuals because they are afraid of the side effects and complications. The FDA has put restrictions on the number of painkillers that doctors can prescribe to alleviate pain. This limitation has caused some doctors to forego the prescriptions altogether. The American public is fed up with prescription drugs and is doing everything possible to find other solutions to the opioid epidemic.
Doctors and pharmacists are now working closely with doctors in the medical community to develop more natural treatments to combat the opioid epidemic. We now understand more about the negative consequences of overprescribed and abused prescription drugs. The medical community is now trying to produce medications that will target the chemical and neurological imbalances that cause people to experience the horrible side effects of opioid addiction. Doctors like Cory Harow are also learning about the adverse reactions that may occur from taking certain medications as well. This knowledge has caused a significant shift in the way doctors to prescribe medication to avoid these dangerous side effects.
