This is primarily due to the rising sales of these potent painkillers. Nationwide, pharmacies received and ultimately dispensed the equivalent of 69 tons of pure oxycodone and 42 tons of pure hydrocodone in 2010, latest year for which statistics are available. That's enough to give 40 5-mg Percocets and 24 5-mg Vicodins to every person in the United States.
It is estimated that nearly half of all emergency room visits were prescription drug overdoses. The cost in healthcare is about $72 billion for the non medical use of prescription opioids. This is a dramatic increase.As of August 31, 2010, among the seven types of laws examined, one state had none of these types of laws, three states had one, fifteen had two, nineteen had three, seven had four, five states had five, and one had six, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This involved seven different types of laws: Laws requiring physical examination before prescribing, Laws regarding tamper-resistant prescription forms, laws regulating pain clinics, laws setting prescription drug limits, laws prohibiting "doctor shopping".fraud, Laws requiring patient identification before dispensing, Laws providing immunity from prosecution/mitigation at sentencing for individuals seeking assistance during an overdose.
State
|
# of Laws
|
State
|
# of Laws
|
State
|
# of Laws
| ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3
|
4
|
1
| |||||
2
|
5
|
3
| |||||
2
|
4
|
4
| |||||
2
|
3
|
3
| |||||
3
|
3
|
2
| |||||
3
|
2
|
2
| |||||
4
|
3
|
4
| |||||
4
|
3
|
2
| |||||
3
|
2
|
3
| |||||
6
|
0
|
5
| |||||
1
| 1 |
2
| |||||
3
|
5
|
4
| |||||
3
|
3
|
2
| |||||
3
|
2
|
2
| |||||
3
|
3
|
5
| |||||
3
|
5
|
2
| |||||
2
|
3
|
2
|
Currently, the Drug Enforcement Agency oversees prescribers and pharmacies. Each state is in charge of monitoring the amount a patient receives. There is currently no national oversight of individual patients who receive addicting prescription medication.
This is unacceptable. We need to have better controls over the states in regards to these prescriptions. A national oversight committee is need to monitor each states Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), which will help identify not only the prescriber and pharmacy, but also the patients who may be receiving addictive medication from several doctors and pharmacies. Offering to mitigate criminal proceedings in the case of someone who is seeking treatment or wishes to enter a drug offender program will help also.
Finding alternatives to addictive pain medications is imperative. This epidemic will only rise until we find another way to combat pain. By doing this, we will reduce the number of pills that will be available on the streets, thereby reducing the number of people who may become addicted. This will also limit the possibility of overdose and death.
To find out more information please visit these sites:
http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/poisionings
I hate a petition. Please read and sign it at: http://www.change.org/petitions/the-president-of-the-united-states-set-up-a-prescription-drug-tracking-for-both-patients-and-doctors#
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