GROWTH OF THE OPIOID CRISIS
For decades , pain has been considered to be the fifth vital sign in clinical practice . This was an attempt to ensure that patients were treated adequately when they had pain as often occurs following a procedure . Unfortunately , this approach has led to very serious and unintended consequences whereby pain management using narcotic-based medications has contributed to a significant rise in opioid-related deaths . A considerable increase of opioid prescription writing , combined with a similar rise in other drugs used to treat pain ( e . g ., Hydrocodone-acetaminophen , Hydrocodone-ibuprofen , and Oxycodone-acetaminophen ), have rendered widespread availability . Highly addictive narcotics have become far too mainstreamed thanks in part to the fifth vital sign approach , along with aggressive pharmaceutical company marketing . This method of addressing pain management has resulted in countless pill bottles left in medicine cabinets that were subsequently used , abused , and illicitly sold in communities everywhere . Furthermore , opioids have become a gateway drug in the illegal drug trade toward other harmful , more affordable , and easier to access drugs such as heroin and fentanyl . The ease with which synthetic opioids may be manufactured and illegally sold has become a cottage industry , further compounding the crisis . Families and communities have suffered the consequences with over 100,000 fatalities year-over-year as of April 2021 . 2 Given such unacceptable occurrences of overdoses , Narcan has become a necessary commodity on ambulances and police units .
No part of the United States has been immune . Despite the CDC ’ s report that “ overall national opioid dispensing rate declined from 2012 to 2020 ,” there are still 43.3 prescriptions per 100 persons , totaling more than 142 million opioid prescriptions per annum . A 43.3-percent rate is entirely too high when safer , equally effective alternatives exist . Opioid Use Disorder ( OUD ) is a major public health issue , but it is one that can be addressed and ultimately remedied . The following map derived from University of Michigan 2019 research illustrates the widespread devastation that is occurring – at least where risk information is available .
MARCH / APRIL 2022 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 13