Articles Tagged with ''opioid epidemic''

Data from emergency departments (EDs) show that the U.S. opioid overdose epidemic continues to worsen, according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While many Americans fear flying, violence and natural disasters, the odds of dying from preventable, everyday incidents are far greater – the greatest ever, in fact, in United States history. A person’s lifetime odds of dying from any unintentional cause have risen to one in 25 – up from odds of one in 30 in 2004, according to National Safety Council analysis.

A popular herbal remedy for – among other things – opioid abuse has opioid properties that can lead to abuse, addiction and even death, says the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A scientific analysis of the botanical substance kratom identified opioid properties in its compounds. In other words, kratom compounds may affect the body just like opioids.

Opioid prescribing has increased 471 percent from 1996 to 2012, according to a new Annals of Emergency Medicine study, “Emergency Department Contribution to the Prescription Opioid Epidemic.” But, emergency departments are not a major source of opioid prescriptions. In fact, their share of opioid prescribing is small and declining.

While opioid overdose rates remain high among adults, American teens are misusing opioid pain medications less than they did a decade ago. That’s the good news from the 2017 Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey of eighth, 10th and 12th graders in schools nationwide. The bad news? More kids are “vaping” – and they’re not really sure what’s in that mist that they’re inhaling.

President Trump’s declaring the opioid epidemic a national health emergency is a critical first step, but it does not address the urgent need for more federal funds to fight this crisis, according to Arthur C. Evans, Jr., PhD, CEO of the American Psychological Association (APA). Evans said the declaration does not automatically direct federal funds to address the problem – funds which should go to the states, because they “are battling this epidemic on the front lines.”

The amount of opioids prescribed in the United States peaked in 2010 and then decreased each year through 2015, but remains at high levels and varies from county to county in the U.S., according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The workplace is not immune from the effects of the opioid epidemic that is raising alarm across the U.S. In fact, treatment practices for work-related injuries are likely contributing to the problem, since pain from those injuries is increasingly being managed with powerful prescription opioids.

Workers Memorial Day, 2016: Statement by John Howard, M.D., Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH):

Recommendations to improve patient care, safety, and help prevent opioid misuse and overdose As part of the U.S. government’s urgent response to the epidemic of overdose deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new recommendations for prescribing opioid medications for chronic pain, excluding cancer, palliative, and end-of-life care.