Summary: The cost of the growing opioid epidemic is estimated to be $1 trillion from 2001 to 2017, and projected to cost $500 billion from 2017 to 2020. This will continue to rise unless something major changes as overdose related deaths have been sharply increasing over the past few years.. Currently, Congress is considering spending $6 billion in the next two years to address the opioid crisis. In his budget, Trump proposed spending $17 billion on opioids, of that $13 billion for the Health and Human Services Department, while cutting other health care programs like Medicaid. Altarum, a non profit research group, said "the greatest cost comes from lost earnings and productivity from overdose deaths — estimated at $800,000 per person based on an average age of 41 among overdose victims." Last year, the number of fatal opioid-related overdoses was about 62,500. Most of the people dying from overdoses are in the prime of their lives (ages 30-40). From 2001 to 2017, health-care costs related to the opioid crisis reached $217.5 billion, and will cost at least $29.1 billion annually.
Analysis & Opinion: The opioid epidemic costs the government and society in a variety of ways including the criminal justice system, health care, and employers. The government faces trade offs when decided how much to spend on certain issues. In this case Trump decided to spend money on the opioid epidemic rather than health care program. To combat this issue I believe that we need to raise awareness about and raise money for the opioid epidemic.
Questions:
Do you believe that the opioid crisis is one for health officials or law enforcement to deal with? Why?
What do you think should be done about the opioid crisis? How would you fix the problem?
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18 comments:
The opioid crisis is something for the health community to deal with because rehabilitation is more effective than jail. Putting those addicted to opioids in jail overcrowds prisons and does nothing for rehabilitation and treatment. In addition, addiction is not a problem that stems from criminal activity. The states that have the highest amount of opioid overdose deaths are also the states where opioids are most frequently prescribed to patients. Because opioids are often given out without a second thought, it is easier for more people to get addicted and opioids to circulate more. I believe that the most effective way to combat the opioid crisis is a combined effort from both the health community and the government. It is obviously very difficult to combat this extremely pervasive epidemic, however I think Health care officials prescribing less opioids and more resources to treat addiction would be a good start.
I think the opioid epidemic is primarily a health issue to be dealt with by the medical community. I say this because the medical community is essentially responsible for prescribing the drugs, and there should be other alternatives for pain treatment methods. Medicinal opioids have eased pain after medical procedures, but some people find the prescription pain killers in effective after awhile due to tolerance, so they turn to heroin which is more economically feasible and much cheaper than pills. Law enforcement should should make illegal drugs like heroin and misused prescription opioids be primarily treated as a health crisis because only the medical community can can really prevent the issue from further worsening. Enforcement will purely punish those who break the law, and they will go back to their addictions afterwards. I think the medical community should provide other alternatives directed towards the epidemic like the overdose response Initiative and naloxone. Doctors should provide different treatment methods like the placebo effect, laughing gas, trigger point injections, etc. In a sense, I think the medical community and law enforcement should work together to limit the amount of overdoses in the future and find alternative treatment methods so they can halt the issue before it can spread.
I think the opioid crisis is something that health officials should deal with it because they have the knowledge and experience in dealing with this health related issue. I believe the first thing that hospitals should do is to increase awareness of this pressing issue in our community. Many people abuse certain drugs given by doctors in hospitals especially pain killers like opioids and fentanyl. There is a reason why doctors in hospitals give a specific dose to the patient. Many of us have limited knowledge on the potential dangers of going above the recommended dosage and that will lead to a terrible outcome. I know that many hospitals are trying to find alternative solutions to try and address this issue such as different types of therapy: cognitive etc. I am currently working with UCSF pain physicians and psychologists to help patients suffering from chronic pain and stress as a result of the opioid crisis.
I agree that using law enforcement to deal with the opioid crisis may only antagonize those with the addiction. We should be focusing on rehabilitation efforts instead of punishing people with the drug addition, as it wouldn’t mitigate the expansion of the crisis, and instead possibly make people more subject to recidivism. In terms of how to combat the crisis as a whole, there really is no other short term solution than to minimize the sales of opioids (as I believe a majority of the supply comes from health official subscriptions) in light of looking towards alternative methods as Stephen mentioned. I think this trade off (budget wise) is critical, considering the innumerable deaths from the crisis that have occurred. In terms of raising awareness and money, I think these are both good ideas. We may all know about the opioid crisis, but perhaps if health officials could continually inform or update patients on the high rate of addiction (and try to help them to not succumb to it). We could try and spread an opiod crisis movement as there is with breast cancer awareness to further increase monetary aid and social awareness.
Vox offers an interesting viewpoint on whether it really is the Trump administration that has done all of which it takes credit for in terms of the opioid crisis. This wasn't really the point of the article, but may be interesting to take a look at (https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/13/17004656/trump-budget-opioid-epidemic). However, if Vox is right in saying that this plan really came from a bill signed by Obama in 2016, then perhaps that is just another reason to support the health officials dealing with the problem instead of law enforcement. Olivia is right when looking at the situation from an economic standpoint-if we let the jails take care of this, where will those who commit crimes such as murder or theft go? We already have too many people overcrowding prisons, why not try to combat the root of the problem?
According to the Bureau of Prisons, the mission of US jails are to "protect society by confining offenders in the controlled environments of prisons and community-based facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure, and that provide work and other self-improvement opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens." Based on this mission, it might be the job of law enforcement and prison facilities to detain drug offenders, as soon as they are imprisoned, medical professionals should be involved to get them the help they need so that they can again become law-abiding citizens. But I think even before people get detained by law enforcement, it is the job of the health officials to work hard to prevent drug use and addiction.
Like aforementioned, I think that this is primarily a issue that the health and medical community should be dealing with. One thing the health community can do is to spread more awareness and to educate people on the dangers of opioid abuse. Also, doctors can prescribe opioids in smaller amounts, which could help people with overusing and overdosing. I think the government's role in this matter is to at first detain people abusing opioids and then to send them to rehabilitation rather than just put them in jail.
Sigh, its the age old question of rehabilitation or punishment. It is whether you believe that putting drugs in your system is an illegal offense or it is an a health issue that needs to be properly treated. This depends on your outlook of the problem. I believe it is a health issue in which people should be sent to rehab but the other point of view is valid.
I believe the opioid problem is one that requires the use of law enforcement and health officials but the should be lead by health officials. People that have drug issues and are sent to jail usually start using again once they are out. Rehab will help people instead of punish them. I believe that is the best way to stop or help against the problem.
I believe this issue is something the health officials should deal with because at this point I think focusing on educating people on drugs and getting people the treatment they need is essential. Also like the other comments had mentioned, doctors could help inform patients about the doses of opioids and decrease the amounts if needed.
I would rather the opioid crisis be dealt with by the health officials than law enforcement. I believe cases of overdosing can be better dealt by professionals who understand the effects of withdrawal that compels the individual to overdose in the first place, and thus make them more equipped to handle such situations. In most cases, patients are more likely to listen to people who they perceive to care about their well being more than just trying to uphold a law. I do not believe that criminalizing opioid victims is the right way to go, and thus believe law enforcement should not deal with this crisis.
I believe it is an issue for the medical community to address, because it is the fault of doctors for overprescribing opioid pain killers for moderate pain. Pharmaceutical companies make a huge profit for selling these drugs, as they know it is addictive and therefore will draw a larger customer base. Companies have distributed opioids too freely and haven't taken real responsibility for the effects. Law enforcement getting involved would be a big mistake. I think in general the criminalization of drugs only forces people who need help to hide, rather than get sent to rehab. People with opioid addictions need rehab, not jail.
I believe that the best way to deal with this situation is to throw these people in jail. One of our topics, when I was doing MUN, was about rehabilitation or punishment and I learned that the main problem is the cost of rehabilitating people. To rehabilitate these people, you have to build a rehabilitation center with doctors, psychologists, caretakers, and all the equipment that they need. Yes, rehabilitation does have better numbers on paper, but to me it is not worth the cost of taking away people's healthcare.
If it boils down to choosing between funding Medicaid or opioid overdose prevention measures, I think the money should go to the former. While opioids are extremely dangerous and constitute about 30,000 of the 50,000 drug overdoses each year, that number is insignificant compared to the 70 million people who rely on Medicaid. Ella is right that pharmeceutical companies are too lax with opioid sales, however those who overdose have no one to blame but themselves. The best solution for the opioid crisis would be increase restrictions on pharmaceutical companies rather than spend money on rehab.
I think that the opioid epidemic has its deepest roots in the medical sector, but big pharma companies are still very much to blame. People who were prescribed strong opioids such as oxycontin or other powerful painkillers by medical professionals got hooked and searched for other ways to obtain these drugs once their prescription ran out. They turned to harmful options, from preventable sources. I believe that companies need to stop selling these extremely harmful drugs to hospitals, and doctors need to stop prescribing strong opioids to patients who do not need them. The government should attack the issue from business side, but also help treat the people who are addicted. The people who are already addicted need facilities where they can get treatment, and the medical attention they need, in order to solve the problem from another front. We shouldn't decide between the two approaches, because they are both needed to stop the problem at its root.
I believe that this is a health issue, those who are addicted should be treated rather than convicted. You can blame those who are addicted, but that wouldn't solve the problem that continues to grow. The only way to stop this is through prevention, these people need help.
Unless prisons are offering some sort of rehabilitation to those in jail, I believe that this crisis is one that should be dealt with by health officials. Most drug addictions stem from a medical problem, and should therefore remain under the jurisdiction of health officials. Throwing addicts into a jail cell that offers no help in treating them is in no way beneficial, and only contributes to the overpopulation in prisons. Threatening jail time to addicts does not motivate them to seek help, so offering rehabilitation is the best route to combat drug abuse. The other solution, as many have said before, is to limit the amount of addictive drugs prescribed by doctors to patients in an attempt to prevent an addiction from occurring.
The opioid crisis is definitely a major issue that needs to be dealt with by both health officials and law enforcement. In most circumstances, having a support system that cares for an individual is important in the steps for recovery. If a person has no means of connection to anybody, it would be hard to stop opioids since they are so addictive. In addition, it is also a problem for law enforcement. The law should enforce these rules by identifying those who are abusing the drug, but instead of punishing them, they should be able to have access to a facility that specializes in overcoming drug abuse. Law enforcement should do their job, but should do their job to help those who need it rather than arresting them which can lead to an even bigger crisis. The opioid crisis needs to be carefully analyzed in order to fully understand the origins of the crisis. Understanding the crisis in depth, in my opinion, is more useful because it can help health officials and law enforcement determine what is the best method to approach and combat this issue. If I were to fix this problem, I would set up facilities around places where the opioid crisis is most concentrated and hope that it will help assuage usage.
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