Free Essay on Navigating the Opioid Crisis: Impacts, Responses, and Future Directions in America

Introduction to the Opioid Crisis in America

The efficacy of opioids in preventing acute pain led to extensive overuse of the medications, resulting in the opioid crisis in the late 1990s in America. The opioid crisis refers to the epidemic of addiction to drugs called Opioids, prescribed for pain relief. America consumes approximately 80% of the opioids produced each year globally (Blanco et al., 2020). Cancer patients, infants whose mothers consume opioids during pregnancy, and neonatal care are at the highest risk of the Opioid crisis. Consequently, 128 people die from opioid overdoses according to 2018 data (Salmond, & Allread, 2019). While the Opioid crisis in the U.S. that resulted from addiction to opioid drugs has caused many deaths, high expenditure, economic loss, and affected society, the Department of Health and Human Services prevent further fatalities and addiction to opioids through research, providing access to healthcare services, and increasing awareness.

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Opioid Crisis

The pharmaceutical companies are at fault for producing unsafe drugs for the market without carefully analyzing their effects. Equally important, the government is also at fault for the failure to run enough checks about the drugs through the Food and Drugs Act (FDA) and control addiction among the citizens. In response to the crisis, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the C.D.C., monitors trends to understand the epidemic and do advanced research to identify areas that need assistance.

Further, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the C.D.C. has equipped the state with resources and supports health care providers with tools and guidance to improve the patient's prescription safety. Besides, the CDC has collaborated with public safety officials, such as law enforcement, to address the increasing illicit opioid problem (Dowell et al., 2016). Finally, the CDC is increasing awareness about prescriptions and how to make safe decisions. The CDC, along with HRSA, is improving access to treatment by offering medically assisted treatment, advising better pain management choices, and promoting the use of overdose-reversing drugs.

Social, Financial, and Economic Impacts

Despite health impacts, the opioid crisis has dramatically affected America's financial, social, and economic fields. Financial impacts include the government's heavy costs, healthcare providers, and patients in raising awareness, educating healthcare providers about the prescriptions, conducting research, and involving law enforcement to mitigate misuse of opioids. Moreover, economic impacts include lost productivity, lost income tax, and lower employment (Blanco et al., 2020). Social impacts include losing family and friends to the opioid crisis, thus affecting their social lives.

Conclusion

To sum up, the opioid crisis in America resulted from the misuse and over-prescription of opioids. Consequently, the opioid crisis has caused social problems and economic and financial losses as the government responds to it. However, the government's measures to mitigate the opioid crisis include creating awareness, conducting research, and enhancing healthcare services access. Nonetheless, the Department of Health and Human Services should withhold the sale of opioids such that only accredited hospitals issue them. I have learned that Opioids are a class of drugs such as morphine, tramadol, heroin, and fentanyl, made for pain relief. My key takeaway is that opioids are not harmful but become dangerous once misused.

References

Blanco, C., Wiley, T. R., Lloyd, J. J., Lopez, M. F., & Volkow, N. D. (2020). America’s Opioid Crisis: The need for an integrated Public Health Approach. Translational Psychiatry, 10(1), 1-13. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-020-0847-1

Dowell, D., Haegerich, T. M., & Chou, R. (2016). CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain—The United States, 2016. Jama, 315(15), 1624-1645. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2503508

Salmond, S., & Allread, V. (2019). A Population Health Approach to America's Opioid Epidemic. Orthopedic Nursing, 38(2), 95. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6519712/