Pharmacy Law – A Focus on Opioid Prescriptions- Pharmacy Technician
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From 1999 to 2017, more than 700,000 people died in the
United States from a drug overdose. About 400,000 of these
deaths involved both prescription and illicit opioids (eg, heroin);
218,000 deaths involved prescription opioids. In 2017 alone,
there were more than 70,000 overdose deaths, with nearly 70%
involving opioids. This was a 10% increase from 2016, when
there were 63,632 overdose deaths and two-thirds involved
opioids.
The current rise in opioid overdose deaths can be described
in three distinct phases. The first phase began in 1999 following
an increase in the prescribing of opioids during the 1990s,
due in part to a new, patient-centered focus on relieving pain as
the 5th vital sign. The second phase began in 2010, with rapid
increases in overdose deaths involving heroin. The third phase
began in 2013, with significant increases in overdose deaths
involving synthetic opioids (eg, tramadol, fentanyl), especially
illicitly manufactured fentanyl. Although the opioid overdose
epidemic has evolved and worsened in recent years, provisional
data from 2018 indicates potential improvements in some overdose
indicators. However, a final analysis will be necessary to
confirm this change.
Since 2012, opioid prescribing rates have declined, suggesting that prescribers have become more cautious in their prescribing
practices. However, prescriptions for opioids continue to
contribute to the epidemic, with more than 35% of all opioid
overdose deaths specifically involving prescription opioids.
Prescription opioid use is a risk factor for illicit drug abuse, such
as with heroin or fentanyl. Evidence suggests that most individuals
became addicted to illicit opioids after using prescription opioids...