Drug Addiction to Prescription Painkillers

Prescription Drugs for Pain Management: Pros and Cons

One of the most controversial developments in medical science in recent years has been the development of new prescription drugs to treat pain in the opioid family of drugs. These drugs, such as OxyContin, have been linked to increasing rates of prescription drug abuse and addiction and many physicians are advocating greater scrutiny of how they are used and prescribed within the medical profession. However, opponents of greater regulation fear that this may make the lives of individuals suffering chronic pain even more difficult. According to the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM): "Ethics drive physicians to prescribe, but fear of sanctions may affect physician prescribing behaviors, which might compromise quality of care." The decision to prescribe potentially addictive drugs such as opioid painkillers must be decided upon specific criteria, including the degree to which the patient's life is being compromised by pain, the potential for addiction, and the availability of alternative remedies.

The cost-benefit analysis regarding pain treatment is a difficult decision for a healthcare provider to make. On one hand, proper pain management is an important component of medical treatment and care. On the other hand, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that "from 1992 to 2002 the number of prescriptions for controlled drugs increased 154.3% compared to 56.6% for non-controlled drugs during a time when the U.S. population only rose 13%," and the health status of the general population cannot be explained by this noticeable spike. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there is also notable state-by-state variation in prescription rates. The Alabama has three times the amount of opioid prescriptions than that of the lowest-prescribing state of Hawaii. These also cannot be explained by regional disease rates and indicates that factors other than the health needs of the population are affecting prescription rates.

Opiate painkillers are highly addictive. Their chemical makeup is not dissimilar to that of heroin and there is a high correlation, according to a 2014 JAMA Psychiatry, between opioid abuse and eventual heroin use. It should be noted that JAMA did not advocate the total cessation of the use of these prescription painkillers, given that their short-term use may be necessary and effective for some patients (Lopez). However, for many patients, especially those that are not coping with debilitating pain, the risks of using the painkillers outweigh the potential benefits. More than 16,000 deaths from opioid painkillers were reported in 2013. There are also considerable side effects in addition to the risk for addiction, including "endocrine abnormalities, lower testosterone, pain in areas they didn't have pain before (known as opioid-induced hyperalgesia), increased cardiac risk, higher fracture risk, and severe, debilitating constipation" (Lopez).