Prevention at the Source through Promoting Impactful Changes

A record number of our fellow Americans– more than 75,000–died of an opioid overdose in the most recently measured year-long period, according to the National Center of Health Statistics.  Opioid overdoses remain the number one cause of accidental death in our nation and in Rhode Island. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including stress and isolation have compounded the opioid epidemic, making it more important than ever to take effective action. 

We need to re-double our efforts on all fronts, including making evidence-based treatment more widely available.  But treatment no matter how well it is done, still leaves a high rate of relapse. It is more important than ever to prevent dependence and addiction at its main source: the overprescribing of opioid-based pain relievers. 

One can become dependent on opioid-based pain relievers in as little as 5 days and there are still more than 150 million prescriptions handed-out for these highly addictive drugs annually. Prescription opioids have the same underlying ingredient as dangerous recreational drugs, and many people who become addicted to prescription opioids end up graduating to what are referred to as “black market opioids,” such as heroin and fentanyl. Fentanyl is particularly deadly. 

The good news is studies show there are effective non-opioid pain treatment alternatives which in most cases work as well or better. These non-opioid treatments can even be used post-surgery and select hospitals have implemented effective programs to do so.  Additionally, research confirms that providing timely warnings for those patients who are prescribed an opioid-painkiller about the risks of dependence reduces new instances of opioid abuse disorder.  The task ahead is to ensure these findings drive the needed changes in prescribing practices through  education of prescribers and the public and system-wide policy changes.