The recent indictment of a Philadelphia pain management practitioner has placed the issue of opioid addiction and dependency at the forefront of local news. This doctor has been accused of prescribing and/or dispensing oxycodone and Xanax to his patients, generally without the requirement of a physical examination. As a result of this irresponsible behavior, he currently faces over 200 counts of distributing oxycodone. If convicted, he could anticipate a punishment of decades in prison, substantial fines, and criminal forfeiture.
Unfortunately, this case is not unusual in our society, and it will likely not be the last of its kind. According to drugabuse.gov, the amount of prescriptions for opioid medications has rapidly escalated from approximately 76 million in 1991 to almost 207 million in 2013. The United States is the largest global consumer of opioids, accounting for nearly 100 percent of the world’s supply of hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin) and 81 percent of the world’s supply of oxycodone (e.g., Percocet). The New England Journal of Medicine notes that 60 percent of opioids that are abused are directly acquired through a doctor’s prescription.
These statistics raise the daunting question of what alternatives can be utilized to more effectively help those in pain. It is also worth questioning if the dissemination of addictive medications is the most responsible and humane way to treat pain. For more information, we recommend that you read A Nation in Pain: Healing Our Biggest Health Problem, written by Judith Forman.
Do you think there should be a system in place to better control the prescription of opioids?
As a society, are we less able to effectively handle pain?
How do we prevent the unnecessary dispensing of prescription drugs?
What do you think about the legalization of medical marijuana?
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