The United States of America is currently dealing with one of the most devastating epidemics it’s ever seen. However, this epidemic was not brought about by some kind of virus or a particularly strong form of bacteria. Instead, it is one born out of humanity’s susceptibility to addiction.

Dr. J. Fred Stoner, a certified pathologist, has been looking closely into the opioid epidemic in an attempt to better understand why this health crisis has become so pervasive and why it has devastated so many people. 

The Birth of the Opioid Epidemic

As detailed in this article posted on the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s website, interest in opioids spiked in the 1990s when questions were raised about why those drugs were reserved mainly for addressing pain related to cancer and not used at all to relieve chronic pain.

In 1995, the American Pain Society launched the “Pain as the Fifth Vital Sign” campaign that sought to bring about improved evaluation and treatment of symptoms that caused pain. The campaign proved successful, even drawing support from the Veteran’s Health Administration.

Pharmaceutical companies provided assurance that patients would not become addicted to the opioids that were being used as pain relievers, per the United States’ Department of Health and Human Services.

By the year 2000, the Joint Commission published standards for pain management that called on different organizations to perform quantitative assessments of pain per the Institute of Medicine. Not long after that, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federation of State Medical Boards provided statements which clearly outlined plans to loosen regulations over opioid prescribers.

The Joint Commission also set a mandate which required physicians to adequately address the pain being experienced by their patients. That eventually led to opioids being prescribed and used more and more.

All of those events and numerous other occurrences eventually led to the Department of Health and Human Services declaring a public health emergency in 2017. 

The Statistics That Tell the Story of the Opioid Epidemic

To properly understand the true cost of the ongoing opioid crisis, it is important to know the number of lives lost due to this damaging epidemic.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in excess of 700,000 people in the United States have died from a drug overdose since 1999. Of those more than 700,000 individuals, around 400,000 of them died from an overdose which involved the use of an opioid, whether of the prescribed or illicit variety.

In 2016, over 42,000 people died due to opioid abuse. At the time, the death total was the highest on record. It was more than five times the number of people who died from using opioids back in 1999, per the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Troublingly, the numbers would only get worse a year later. By the end of 2017, the number of people who died due in part to their dependence on opioids spiked once again, going from over 42,000 to 47,600. The 2017 total is the highest number on record so far. Numbers for last year remain unavailable at this point in time.

A truly unfortunate statistic that encapsulates just how all-encompassing this opioid epidemic has been is this: On average, more than 130 people every day die from an opioid-related overdose. 

Explaining Why the Opioid Epidemic Has Persisted

Though it has already been recognized as a public health emergency, the opioid epidemic remains out of control, and there are several reasons that explain why that is the case.

Prescribing rates in the United States consistently went up from 2006 to 2010, according to the CDC. It would then peak in 2010 at 782 morphine milligram equivalents (MME) per capita. Rates of prescription for opioids would stay right around that level until 2012.

From 2012 to 2015, opioid prescribing rates decreased significantly. The CDC notes that prescription rates fell to 642 MME per capita in 2015. While the decline in opioid prescription rates has been noticeable, it is still significantly higher than where it was back at the turn of the century.

For the year 2017, 2.1 million people misused the opioids they were prescribed for the first time.

A significant number of the people who have been prescribed opioids to address their chronic pain tend to abuse them. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 21 to 29 percent of people who have been prescribed those drugs eventually use them improperly.

Four to six percent of those people who abuse their prescription opioids end up using heroin at some point. The vast majority of people who are currently using or have used heroin in the past came to that habit after abusing prescription opioids first.

Heroin is a devastating opioid itself. 15,482 deaths were connected to heroin usage in 2017.

81,000 people were also found to have used heroin for the first time that year. Given those numbers, deaths linked to heroin and prescription opioids are not likely to rapidly decline anytime soon. 

Conclusion

Certified pathologists such as Dr. J. Fred Stoner are fully aware of how damaging the opioid epidemic has been and how it can still affect millions and millions of Americans. Promising signs hinting at the weakening of the opioid epidemic remain few and far in between. Addressing it cannot be put off any longer, however. It is a full-blown crisis and it must be remedied as soon as possible.