Pevalence of Prescription Opioid †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Pevalence of Prescription Opioid. Answer: Introduction: There are so many Australians who are dying of prescription opioids, in comparison to those dying of illegal use of heroin. Australian Bureau of Statistics data, which was analyzed by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, indicated that 68% of the 668 overdose deaths in the year 2013 were linked to prescription opioids. Opioids are extracted from opium. Opium is a sticky substance which is derived from opium poppy seeds. Opioids are deemed the father of entire narcotic drugs because it has more than twenty morphine effects. It is dispersant in nature. Opioids are classified into three categories; synthetic, chemically modified or natural. Opioids medication is readily available in Australia through doctors prescription. The essay, therefore, seeks to discuss causes for, and effects of, the increased use of prescription opioids. The major cause for the increased use of prescription opioids is it expanded use to treat severe and chronic, non-cancer pain. Medical researchers have recommended opioids as an effective pain reliever for patients suffering from acute-chronic pains. As a consequence, of these indications opioids usage has risen significantly in Australia and other jurisdictions. According to Blanch, Pearson Haber (2014), the increase rate for opioids uses to treat non-cancer pains have increased by 15-times from 1992 to 2012. Therefore, oxycodone can be attributed to being the main reason leading to the increased utilization of opioids. Fentanyl and Buprenorphine are two kinds of opioid which have become popular in the treatment of pain; thus, making it use increase. As a result, there is a general agreement among the health care professional that the use of opioids to treat severer non-cancer pains has led to its increased medical usage. Another vital cause for the increased use of prescription opioids is the group of people who use opioids for nonmedical purposes. People who inject drugs account for the increased use of prescription opioids in circumstances where heroin is not available. Degenhardt, Gilmour Hall (2013), argues that the consistent use of medical opioids among the people who inject drugs is an indication of untreated opioid addiction. Therefore, considering people who inject drugs are weak and exposed to death, they should be given immediate care to minimize their opioid dependence. Following research by Degenhardt and colleagues, it was established that more than 900 people who inject drugs use pharmaceutical opioids illegally. Methadone, morphine, and oxycodone tablets were found to prevalent among the drug addicts. Medics, therefore, agrees that until opioid substitution treatment is designed to be attractive and available; people who inject drug will keep on utilizing pharmaceutical opioids far m ore than the entire population (Bruneau, Arruda Jutras?Aswad, 2012). There are numerous effects of the increased use of prescription opioids in Australia. The main effect is increased in the number of deaths linked to use of pharmaceutical opioids. An increase in the accidental deaths as a result of prescription opioids and other illicit opioids substances was witnessed between the year 2002 and 2011. According to Karanges Pearson (2016), the number of deaths related to pharmaceutical opioids raised from 151 to 266 between the year 2002 and 2011. This indicated a 1.7 times increase. Karanges together with his colleagues also established that the number of deaths was more for males as compared to the females. The relationship between increased opioid uses in Australia is directly proportional to the increased numbers of deaths linked to its use. As consequence, of this increased use of pharmaceutical opioids health professionals have recommended a policy to curb its usage. Although the policy should ensure availability of opioids to the severe chronic pain patients, it must put measures to reduce it rampant use thus reducing the number of deaths. Another detrimental effect of the increased use of pharmaceutical opioids is the rise of the numbers of hospitalization related opioid poisoning. In the year the 1970s and 1980s hospitalization as a result of opioids were attributed to heroin use. Besides, the cases were minimal and rare. However, the hospitalization cases are on the increase since the year 2001. According to Compton, Jones Baldwin (2016), hospitalization cases due to opioid poisoning rose by 65 % from the year 2000 and 2014. Medical professionals in the Australia concur that the rise of opioid use has led to more opioid addiction which has resulted in more cases of opioid poisoning. They, therefore, recommend treatment and prevention of opioid dependence in both nonmedical and medical users (Dertadian Maher, 2017). Similarly, the increased use of prescription opioids has led to the Australian government to utilize huge amounts of funds to pay opioid prescription subsidies thus affecting the economy. The prevalence use of opioid has led its cost to increase significantly in the last fifteen years. This increase in cost has led the Australian government to spend over $2 billion in opioid pharmaceutical subsidies since 2002. As a consequence of such spending, government budget has bulged leading to higher taxes to cater for such expenditure. Blanch, Pearson, Haber, (2014), articulate that the rising cost of fentanyl and buprenorphine has led the cost of dispensing the two dugs rise from $25 to $58 per dispensing between 2002 and 2012. It is thus clear that increased use of prescription opioids has far-reaching economic effects on the both individual and government level. It is explicit that there are numerous causes for, and effects of, the increased use of prescription opioids. The essay has analyzed some of the causes for and effects of prevalence use of pharmaceutical opioids. Basically, the frequency use of opioids to treat chronic severe, non-cancerous pains can be attributed as one of the leading causes of it increased use. Equally, people who inject drugs is another group of people accountable for the increased use of prescription opioids. Greater use of opioids is not deprived of effects; the main effect is the increase in the number of deaths linked to prescription opioid use. Increased hospitalization and high government spending are other effects associated with increased use of pharmaceutical opioids. As a result of this prevalence use of opioids, the Australian government should enact a policy guiding on the prescription of the drug. Similarly, other interventions such as patient and clinician education, as well as prescription drug moni toring programs should be implemented. References Blanch, B., Pearson, S. A., Haber, P. S. (2014). An overview of the patterns of prescription opioid use, costs and related harms in Australia. British journal of clinical pharmacology, 78(5), 1159-1166. Bruneau, J., Roy, ., Arruda, N., Zang, G., Jutras?Aswad, D. (2012). The rising prevalence of prescription opioid injection and its association with hepatitis C incidence among street?drug users. Addiction, 107(7), 1318-1327. Compton, W. M., Jones, C. M., Baldwin, G. T. (2016). Relationship between nonmedical prescription-opioid use and heroin use. N Engl J Med, 2016(374), 154-163. Degenhardt, L., Gilmour, S., Shand, F., Bruno, R., Campbell, G., Mattick, R. P., ... Hall, W. (2013). Estimating the proportion of prescription opioids that is consumed by people who inject drugs in Australia. Drug and alcohol review, 32(5), 468-474. Dertadian, G. C., Dixon, T. C., Iversen, J., Maher, L. (2017). Self?limiting non?medical pharmaceutical opioid use among young people in Sydney, Australia: An exploratory study. Drug and Alcohol Review. Karanges, E. A., Blanch, B., Buckley, N. A., Pearson, S. A. (2016). Twenty?five years of prescription opioid use in Australia: a whole?of?population analysis using pharmaceutical claims. British journal of clinical pharmacology, 82(1), 255-267.