In the United States, the number of fatalities from drug overdoses increased from 4,000 in 1999 to 19,000 in 2014. As painkillers accounted for a substantial number of deaths, many providers are hesitant to prescribe opioids, according to PBS.
Here are seven points:
1. David Thomas, MD, a physician for the National Institute of Drug Abuse, explained since the early 1990s, physicians were critiqued for not prescribing enough painkillers.
2. Physicians slowly began realizing the medical community was ignoring many patients' pain, and therefore pharmaceutical companies pushed forward studies arguing painkillers did not have a high addiction risk.
3. Some physicians, in part, blame such pharmaceutical companies for downplaying the addiction risk, which may significantly feed into our nation's opioid addiction problem.
4. Many physicians feel they are at a loss because many patients need painkillers, yet many abuse them. Often, the healthcare industry blames providers for the epidemic because they are writing the prescriptions.
5. National Institutes of Health and NIDA created a pain education class, where they provide between 50 and 10 interactive pain patient cases studies accessible online.
6. The case studies not only address the problem of opioid abuse, but present providers with different ways to prescribe opiods and treat pain.
7. Various medical professionals from different disciplines are involved in the case studies, allowing the medical community to band together to find a successful way to treat pain and stifle opioid abuse.
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