Mitigating the Opioid Crisis Via Abuse Deterrent Prescribing Practices: An Interview with Dr. Steven Passik (February 9th)
www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com
Listen Now Fatalities related opioid use now account for over two-thirds of all drug overdoses annually, over 60,000, in the US. Approximately 115 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. This number represents a five-time increase over the past two decades. Opioid-related fatalities have become so prevalent, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, they have caused a decrease in US life expectancy for the past two consecutive years. (The last time life expectancy dropped was in 1993 due to the AIDS epidemic.) While the amount of prescription opioids sold to pharmacies, hospitals and doctors has quadrupled in the recent past, Americans are reporting on reduction in the amount of pain they suffer. (Ironically, we are over prescribed and under treated.) To date the federal government's response to the epidemic has been poor although this past week, the Congress appropriated $6 billion, an amount experts believe beyond inadequate, over a two year period to address the crisis.
Mitigating the Opioid Crisis Via Abuse Deterrent Prescribing Practices: An Interview with Dr. Steven Passik (February 9th)
Mitigating the Opioid Crisis Via Abuse…
Mitigating the Opioid Crisis Via Abuse Deterrent Prescribing Practices: An Interview with Dr. Steven Passik (February 9th)
Listen Now Fatalities related opioid use now account for over two-thirds of all drug overdoses annually, over 60,000, in the US. Approximately 115 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. This number represents a five-time increase over the past two decades. Opioid-related fatalities have become so prevalent, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, they have caused a decrease in US life expectancy for the past two consecutive years. (The last time life expectancy dropped was in 1993 due to the AIDS epidemic.) While the amount of prescription opioids sold to pharmacies, hospitals and doctors has quadrupled in the recent past, Americans are reporting on reduction in the amount of pain they suffer. (Ironically, we are over prescribed and under treated.) To date the federal government's response to the epidemic has been poor although this past week, the Congress appropriated $6 billion, an amount experts believe beyond inadequate, over a two year period to address the crisis.