Two New Resources to Curb Prescription Drug Abuse
Two New Resources to Curb Prescription Drug Abuse
Medscape:Can you speak to the magnitude of prescription drug abuse and misuse in the United States?
Dr. McCance-Katz: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) give statistics that really underscore the emergency we have in the United States with abuse of prescription pain medications. There has been a 300% increase in the sales of powerful opioid pain medications in the United States since 1999. Coincident with the greater availability of these drugs, we have seen a surge in deaths from overdoses, with 14,800 deaths in 2008 -- more than for heroin and cocaine combined -- and in 2009, we saw 475,000 emergency department visits for adverse events related to misuse of opioid pain medications, a doubling of such events in only 5 years.
In 2010, more than 12 million Americans (1 in 20 aged 12 years or older) reported nonmedical use of prescription pain medications. In addition, treatment admissions for addiction to pain medicines increased 4-fold between 1998 and 2008.
The other very dangerous trend is the combined use of prescription pain medications with other substances, including illicit drugs and alcohol. In addition, some patients will experience toxicities when opioid pain medications are taken as prescribed with certain medications prescribed by their doctors for other mental or physical disorders. Many medications, illicit drugs, and alcohol can have adverse drug/drug interactions when taken together that can place a person at risk for serious medical consequences or death. The CDC tells us that mixing of drugs was found in one half of prescription opioid-related deaths, and drugs commonly identified along with opioids included benzodiazepines, heroin, cocaine, and alcohol.
Agents to Watch Out For: The Obvious and Not So Obvious
Medscape:Can you speak to the magnitude of prescription drug abuse and misuse in the United States?
Dr. McCance-Katz: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) give statistics that really underscore the emergency we have in the United States with abuse of prescription pain medications. There has been a 300% increase in the sales of powerful opioid pain medications in the United States since 1999. Coincident with the greater availability of these drugs, we have seen a surge in deaths from overdoses, with 14,800 deaths in 2008 -- more than for heroin and cocaine combined -- and in 2009, we saw 475,000 emergency department visits for adverse events related to misuse of opioid pain medications, a doubling of such events in only 5 years.
In 2010, more than 12 million Americans (1 in 20 aged 12 years or older) reported nonmedical use of prescription pain medications. In addition, treatment admissions for addiction to pain medicines increased 4-fold between 1998 and 2008.
The other very dangerous trend is the combined use of prescription pain medications with other substances, including illicit drugs and alcohol. In addition, some patients will experience toxicities when opioid pain medications are taken as prescribed with certain medications prescribed by their doctors for other mental or physical disorders. Many medications, illicit drugs, and alcohol can have adverse drug/drug interactions when taken together that can place a person at risk for serious medical consequences or death. The CDC tells us that mixing of drugs was found in one half of prescription opioid-related deaths, and drugs commonly identified along with opioids included benzodiazepines, heroin, cocaine, and alcohol.
