Health experts in the US have labeled prescription painkiller abuse an ‘epidemic’.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were moved to do so after noting a sharp rise in opioid overdoses.

But that move, some say, is in fact making the situation worse.

One top pain management expert has argued the ‘epidemic’ label is aggravating the issue, and is causing patients to turn to heroin instead.  

Dr Vitaly Gordin, division chief of chronic pain management at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, said he has never seen so many inpatients on heroin, as in the last six to 12 months.

‘Because of this declared epidemic, many primary care physicians, specialists and surgeons are taking these patients off the narcotics,’ he said.

‘But if they don’t have an exit strategy and get referred for alternate treatment, addictions counseling or rehabilitation, they can become desperate as they go through withdrawal.’

 

 

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The CDC has labeled abused of prescription painkillers in the US as ‘an epidemic’ – but a top pain expert warned that the label is making it worse. That’s because doctors are now taking people off of the narcotics

Prescription painkillers – such as oxycodone and tramadol – are opiate analgesics, just like heroin.

Those painkillers are frequently prescribed for pain control.

Many people who are prescribed the pills to relieve short-term acute pain – such as the pain that occurs following surgery – are not at risk of addiction.

Dr Gordin said: ‘The vast majority of them will very easily get off these medications as their condition improves and pain is decreasing.’

Similarly, painkillers are also often prescribed to patients suffering from chronic conditions.

Those patients require high doses of narcotics for long periods of time.

Dr Gordin said: ‘There are a lot of very legitimate patients who are receiving these medicines in a chronic setting who are not abusing them.’

However, the risk sets in when someone is taken off the medication after using a high dose for a long period of time.

For some of these patients, if they aren’t able to renew a prescription for narcotics, they may turn to heroin while going through withdrawal.

Heroin is relatively inexpensive and easier to access illegally than prescription medications.

But unlike prescription painkillers – which are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration – heroin has no regulation.

And so, it is hard to verify what is in the heroin a person buys from a dealer.

Dr Gordin said: ‘Several years ago there was a string of deaths of addicts who bought heroin laced with a potent painkiller called fentanyl.

 

 

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When people who have been taking painkillers long-term are abruptly taken off the drugs, they start to go through withdrawal – and may end up turning to heroin (pictured) instead

‘Because it’s all underground, illegal business, you don’t know what exactly you’re getting.’

Nearly 20,000 deaths occur each year from prescription opioid abuse.

Most of those deaths happen when the narcotics are taken with another substance – such as benzodiazepine or alcohol.

Such combinations can be lethal, according to Dr Gordin.

The doctor noted that patients with a history of drug abuse, untreated psychiatric conditions or a history of pre-adolescent abuse are more likely to develop addictions.

Dr Gordin said: ‘In my 17 years working here, I have never seen as many inpatients on heroin as I have in the past six to 12 months.

‘Those who have abused heroin are getting into car accidents or involved in violent crimes because of being on the drug or trying to obtain it.

‘I think it’s directly related.’

The doctor suggested that society start removing the stigma of addiction – and stop thinking of it as a character flaw.

Dr Gordin said: ‘We need to understand it is a disease with psycho-social components, and we need to have resources available to both prescribing physicians and patients who need drug rehabilitation