EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The
New York Times headline of June 6th,
2017 says it all:
“Drug Deaths in America Are Rising
Faster Than Ever”
The accompanying story documents the
steep rise in overdose deaths year on year since 1980 (around 10,000 deaths) –
with the sharpest rise coming in the past few years (2017 projected to exceed
70,000).The direct culprits are street drugs heroin, fentanyl, and carfentanil.
However, the root cause lies with prescription opioids supplied by the U.S.
medical and pharmaceutical industries.
Today, more than 2 million Americans
ages 12 and older suffer from opioid
Addiction. Drug overdose is the
leading cause of accidental death, with more than 40% of those fatalities
traced to opiates. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine,
between 1999 and 2008, the sale of prescription pain relievers, rates of
admission to substance abuse
treatment centers, and number of
deaths due to opioid overdose rose in parallel with one another. This
demonstrates a direct correlation between how we administer opioids to patients
and the descent into addiction experienced by many as a result of these
powerful medications.
