Seeking medical attention for chronic pain is often the primary reason behind prescribing opioids. The practice of prescribing opioid painkillers has been so rampant that it led to an epidemic, which the United States has been struggling with for decades. Although medical practices, guidelines and recommendations explicitly point out that prescribing opioid pain pills should always outweigh the risks, they continue to wreak havoc across the North American continent.

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America's Opioid Prescription Rate Goes Down, But Drug Abuse Problem Remains
Seeking medical attention for chronic pain is often the primary reason behind prescribing
opioids. The practice of prescribing opioid painkillers has been so rampant that it led to an
epidemic, which the United States has been struggling with for decades. Although medical
practices, guidelines and recommendations explicitly point out that prescribing opioid pain
pills should always outweigh the risks, they continue to wreak havoc across the North
American continent.
At one time, the crisis of opioid painkillers had reached such high levels that a number of
American states had started a slew of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs).
Though the prescription of opioid painkillers has been relentlessly rising, the rate of growth
started declining of late. However, the deceleration witnessed is not enough to alleviate the
opioid epidemic.
In the United States,
about 2.5 million people
in the age group of 12 and
above had been
diagnosed with an opioid
use disorder (OUD) in
2015. In the same year,
the country witnessed
52,404 deaths, with 63.1
percent involved an
opioid and approximately
15,000 involved a
prescription opioid. There
are various reasons why
the use or misuse of
prescription opioids
reached epidemic levels. Some of these are mentioned below:
 Opioids were previously reserved for chronic and acute pain, post-surgical pain and
end-of-life care. Lately, there has been an increase in the use of opioids to treat
chronic non-cancer pain because prescription drugs were incorrectly marketed as safe
and non-addictive.
 The use of opioid painkillers to treat ongoing chronic conditions increased the
duration for which opioids were prescribed.
 Patients who are on opioids for a long period of time tend to be prescribed a higher
number of doses that significantly increases the average amount of opioids supplied
per prescription.

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 In 2012, health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for pain pills that were
enough to supply every American adult with a bottle of pills.
A combination of these reasons significantly increased the risk of OUD and overdose and
pushed up the cost to the nation to $78.5 billion annually.
Positive development in fight against opioids
The opioid crisis in the U.S. continues. However, a recent report by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that the prescription of opioids has decreased in many
demographic regions between 2010 and 2015, but remains three times higher when
compared to the prescription rates of 1999. The report also highlights some of the other key
points as follows:
 The amounts of opioids prescribed in the U.S. spiked at 782 morphine milligram
equivalents (MME) per capita in 2010 but decreased to 649 MME per capita in 2015.
 The factors linked to the higher prescription of opioids include a larger percentage of
non-Hispanic whites, a higher prevalence of diabetes and arthritis, micropolitan status
and higher unemployment and Medicaid enrollment.
 The annual opioid prescription rate increased from 72.4 prescriptions per 100 people
to 81.2 prescriptions per 100 people from 2006 to 2010 and then decreased to 70.6
per 100 people from 2012 to 2015.
 The annual high-dose opioid prescribing rates remained stable from 2006 to 2010, but
declined from 11.4 per 100 people in 2010 to 6.7 in 2015.
Major improvement in states hit hard by opioid epidemic
The CDC reports that the increase in opioid-related overdose deaths is attributable to the use
of illicit fentanyl and heroin. However, much improvement has been observed in the states
that were particularly affected by the opioid crisis, such as Florida, Kentucky and Ohio. The
implementation of pain clinic regulation and adherence to the PDMPs in 2011 and 2012 led
to a significant decrease in the MME per capita in 85 percent of Ohio counties and 62 percent
of Kentucky counties between 2010 and 2015.
Similarly, the interventions and policies aimed at preventing the over prescription of opioids
in Florida counties from 2010 to 2012 led to a decrease in the amount of opioids prescribed
per capita in the 80 percent of counties from 2010 to 2015.
The experts feel that there is a need for more and better public education about pain and
pain management as well as measures that have the potential to negate the impact of
pharmaceutical advertisements directed at consumers. The CDC report also alludes to two
aspects that need to be addressed to reverse the menace of prescription opioids. Firstly, there
is a need for more evidence-based, comprehensive treatment for pain and substance use
disorder (SUD). Secondly, the findings of the report are a cause for celebration, but health

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care providers and doctors must continue their good work by upholding PDMPs, eliminating
stigma and prescribing the overdose reversal drug naloxone.
Recovery from drug abuse
The opioid epidemic is termed as one of the worst drug crises in the U.S. Overdose deaths led
by opioids continue to increase among men and women of all races and ages. Opioid drugs
were developed to help reduce the sensation of pain in patients; however, due to its high
addictiveness, people can quickly develop an addiction to opioids, especially if they take it in
a nonmedical manner.
If you or your loved one is battling an addiction to prescription pills, it is imperative to seek
help. The Prescription Abuse Helpline of California assists in accessing the finest inpatient
drug rehab in California that specializes in delivering evidence-based intervention plans. Call
at our 24/7 helpline number 855-738-2770 to know about the best inpatient drug addiction
treatment in California.