History of the Opioid Crisis

History of the Opioid Crisis

Eukeria Ludd

How did the Opioid Crisis Begin?

• The Harrison Narcotic Control Act was passed in 1914 due to increasing Heroin and Opioid abuse.

• After it was passed patients who came to a provider with inexplicable pain were thought to be abusers and cancer patients were encouraged to ween off narcotics until they only had a few weeks to live.

• In the 1990s the pharmaceutical companies assured health care providers that opioid pain relievers were not addictive.

Multiple Choice

When was the Harrison Narcotic Control Act passed?

• 1990

• 1914

• 1922

• 1994

How did the Opioid Crisis Begin? (cont.)

• In 1995 the American Pain Association initiated a campaign that advocated for pain as the fifth vital sign.

• After the standards released in 2000 by the Joint Commission encouraging thorough pain assessments, physicians began to prescribe opioids at higher rates in fear that if they did not adhere to the Joint Commission standards the hospital would not receive funds. 

Multiple Choice

When did the American Pain Association advocate for pain as the 5th vital sign?

• 1995

• 1914

• 2000

• 2002

When did we begin to see opioid dependency?

• In the 2000s Big Pharma released an extended-release form of OxyContin which was perceived to not be as addicting so physicians began to prescribe more.

• From 1997 to 2002, OxyContin prescriptions increased from 670,000 to 6.2 million (Jones et al., 2018). 

• The opioid overdose rate began to increase and in 2017 more than 47,000 people died from an overdose. 

• In 2017 the US government declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency (Jones et al., 2018). 

Multiple Choice

When did the US Government declare the Opioid Crisis a Public Health Emergency?

• 2002

• 1997

• 2017

• 2020

What was “Big Pharma” role in the opioid crisis?

• Big Pharma assured the physicians that patients would not form addictions to opioids.

• The Big Pharma companies also marketed their products as humane treatments for pain. This led to an increase in opioid prescriptions. Physicians did this so they would not appear to be inhumanely treating patients. 

Multiple Select

What was Big Pharma's role in the Opioid Crisis?

• assured the physicians that patients would not form addictions to opioids

• marketed their products as humane treatments

• lowered prices for the opioid pain relievers

References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, March 19). Understanding the Epidemic | Drug Overdose | CDC Injury Center. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html

Jones, M. R., Viswanath, O., Peck, J., Kaye, A. D., Gill, J. S., & Simopoulos, T. T. (2018, April 24). A Brief History of the Opioid Epidemic and Strategies for Pain Medicine. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5993682/

National Institute of Health. (2020, May 27). Opioid Overdose Crisis. National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis