The Opioid Epidemic: Impact on Pain Patients

The opioid epidemic is currently surging in the United States, however the increased awareness of this problem by the media, FDA, DEA and government is making doctors fearful of the potential repercussions of prescribing the narcotics, and causing patients to worry that their quality of life will be significantly diminished if they are arbitrarily cut off from these drugs.

By now most have heard of the opioid epidemic from the media, describing a significant problem impacting all regions of the United States, all races and all socioeconomic classes equally and indiscriminately, but few have considered the ramifications of this for the patients taking these drugs. The most notable impact thus far is the rescheduling of hydrocodone from a CIII controlled substance to a CII in October of 2014, causing many patients to make more frequant and often costly trips to the doctor, but this is only one of the ways this media frenzy is impacting patients. Other less known consequences of this problem are that some doctors have actually suspended their practice of prescribing most opioids, except for mild opioids such as tramadol or Tylenol with codeine; moreover one medication in particular is currently being forced off the market: Opana ER which is suspected to be withdrawn later this year.

This trend of less prescribing and more regulation could potentially leave the 100 million Americans who currently suffer from chronic pain without anything to alleviate their suffering.