KevinMD: I am a doctor, but I didn’t cause the opioid epidemic [View all]

[HuckleB]

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2016/05/doctor-didnt-cause-opioid-epidemic.html

"Let’s get this straight. I am a doctor, but I didn’t cause the opioid epidemic. That is not exactly what you hear in the media these days. After all, doctors are the ones with the prescription pads, and someone must be to blame.

The truth is that death from opioid abuse is on the rise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported some frightening statistics. Deaths from opiates have increased by 137 percent since 2000. In 2014 alone, more than 28,000 people died from opioid use, and more than half of them died from the use of prescription pills. This is a four-fold increase in opioid-related deaths over fifteen years.

We need an American detox.


It is not surprising that people are angry. They should be! These deaths are preventable and by all accounts unacceptable. The U.S. government is looking into ways to calm the opioid epidemic, but their approach may be a misfire. Right now, they have targeted doctors as the smoking gun. It would be more effective to make doctors their allies, instead of the scapegoats.

Instead, you see advertisements posted in Times Square and other venues featuring children in pain. The inflammatory slogans read: “Would you give your child heroin?” Doctors are seen as drug pushers instead of caregivers trying to relieve obvious pain. Parents are being judged for wanting to relieve their children’s pain. Where does the discussion of actual medical care come into play?

..."

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A worthy read, IMO.