HISTORY OF THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC

The opioid crisis can be looked at as two different stages, the first of which began in the 1990s. Pharmaceutical companies had just released this new “miracle drug” opioid, thought to be a cure-all for pain. However, the highly addictive properties of the medication were not fully explored. Doctors were encouraged to prescribe these pills by pharmaceutical companies, and pharmaceutical companies were releasing ads to both the public and the healthcare industry. Clearly, opioids are effective and pain relievers. However, the first spike in overdoses also began in the 1990s. Because doctors were overprescribing opioids at such high rates (at the encouragement of pharmaceutical companies and hospital executives) people who didn’t truly need opioids were being exposed and becoming addicted.

​

This lead to the second stage, around 2010. As overdoses from opioids began to increase, the public panicked. In an effort to resolve the situation, harsh new laws were put into effect which cracked down on opioids, even prescription ones. Doctors began to fear even prescribing opioids, and numerous health practitioners began to face lawsuits and public disdain for overprescribing. Many patients who had begun to rely on opioids for true and serious pain were left high and dry. Those  with chronic pain were left unable to function yet again, as even those who truly needed opioids were not being prescribed them . This crack down unfortunately led to another new problem; more people began to use heroin, as it was cheaper and more easily accessible than prescription opioids. Overdose deaths for opioids decreased slightly, but heroin overdose deaths rose to compensate. Around 2013, fentanyl related deaths also began to rise, as synthetic fentanyl (often laced with other harmful chemicals) began to be illegally manufactured and distributed. Opioid related deaths continue to increase despite the efforts to reduce them.

Understanding the different stages of the opioid crisis, and how different actions have contributed to the current situation, it begins to become clear what should be done to alleviate the problem. Clearly, overprescribing opioids is not a good method, and simply removing prescription opioids did nothing to lessen the problem, and may actually have contributed to a rise in deaths.