Prescription Opioids: A Case Study

Community Strategies to Address the Opioid Epidemic: A Literature Review Francis Melaragni Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University Abstract Introduction The impact of opioid drug abuse which includes both misuse of prescribed medication and illegal consumption of heroin and other opioids has become and been declared a public health emergency in Massachusetts and many other states. This problem has also been recognized as an urgent issue at the national level, and has received focus and attention from The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The purpose of this literature review is to assess what tactics and

The opium poppy plant produces substances that act as a pain reliever. Most opioid drugs like morphine and hydrocodone that treat severe pain, contain the products of these poppy plants. Opioids are powerful narcotics that have over the years been taken advantage of but should exclusively be for medical purposes only prescribed by physicians. Nabarun Dasgupta is a pharmaceutical epidemiologist who has a Ph.D. in pharmacy from the University of North Carolina. Nabarun wrote a peer-reviewed article about the opioid crisis and how economic factors intensify the epidemic. He reports, it is false to say that overprescription is the only cause of this national crisis. Dasgupta claims that some of the blame must also go to structural components like

Across the world abusing prescription drugs causes more deaths than street drugs do combined (“International Statistics”). Prescription drugs are so easy to get ahold of and so easy to get addicted to. The misuse of prescription drugs have gotten out of hand. These drugs can cause unintentional overdoses easily. The misuse of prescription drugs can lead to addiction, affect the health of users in a dramatic way, and even cause death.

Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Opioids are also frequently used non-medically for their euphoric effects or to prevent withdrawal symptoms. Examples of opioids are morphine, heroin, oxycodone, and methadone. Opioid overdose is an acute and serious condition due to excessive opioids use. Dependence on prescription opioids can stem from treatment of chronic pain and in recent years is the cause of the increased number of opioid overdoses. Opioids are very addictive substances, having serious life threatening consequences in case of intentional or accidental overdose. The euphoria attracts recreational use, and frequent,

Opioids come in many forms, both licit and illicit drugs. Licit drugs would be considered pharmaceuticals, since they are prescribed by doctors and usually come in pill forms. Some examples of licit opioids are: OxyContin®, Vicodin®, codeine, morphine, methadone, and fentanyl. The illicit drugs would be heroin and can come in many different forms. Both forms must be consumed with caution due to their addictive nature.

After the evaluation was completed, Ms. Smith result indicates that she has a strong history of alcohol abuse, along with using opioid medications with alcohol (Weshsler Adult Intelligent

Some patients prefer not to take pain medication because they fear addiction or may have a history of substance abuse. Educating the patients on their right to be free of pain and having their pain managed aggressively is a priority in the recovery phase. The goals that I hope to achieve during this clinical practicum

Opioids are a prescription medication involving various forms of drugs, it can benefit patients as little as a few minutes, however, it can be extremely dangerous to patients without self-control.

Proficient use of skills and techniques, leads to the achieving of one’s ultimate goal. The objective with effective therapy is that you are equipped to generalise skills and coping strategies to a variety of events and circumstances. Clients are thus equipped with strategies for relapse prevention, resulting in long-term

Availability of opioids puts more and more people at risk for addiction. A simple prescription from the doctor for a migraine or back pain can turn into an addiction. Doctors are faced daily with patients who complain of pain, acute and chronic. It has become a simple solution for them to write out a prescription for pain medication to help their patient. In turn, not helping them at all. The supply chain is short in the use and misuse of opioids. This runs from the prescribing physician to the patient and the prescription drug abuser, which is often the same person. The vast majority of illicitly used prescription opioids are obtained from physicians, not drug dealers. People are seeking out pain medication through their primary physicians

mends the Controlled Substances Act to increase the number of patients that a qualifying practitioner dispensing narcotic drugs for maintenance or detoxification treatment is initially allowed to treat from 30 to 100 patients per year.

For over a decade, acute and chronic back pain has been treated with opioid analgesics also known as opiates or narcotics (such as Percocet or Oxycontin), and nonopioid analgesic, including NSAID’s (such as Naproxen and Ibuprofen). On average, 182,727,272 opioid analgesic prescriptions are dispensed annually (Dal Pan, 2016). Unfortunately, each of which is accompanied by potentially serious adverse effects. Opioids serious side effects including respiratory depression, drowsiness, nausea, constipation, addiction, and ultimately death. Although constipation does not sound like a serious side effect, it does pose the potential for serious consequences. Because of the depressed peristalsis of the gastrointestinal tract or ileus the patient can develop constipation or

Phase One (Sessions 1 through 3) • The session 1 and 2 consists of the assessment of the client’s clinical problems and background information. Questions relate to her clinical problems, including (a) the nature of her problems (depression and difficulty with making decisions), (b) reason of seeking psychotherapy, and (c) previous attempts to deal with the problems. For the background information, the client’s histories are assessed in the areas of intimate/family relationship, educational/vocational activities, past history of psychological treatment, and physical condition. Session 3 primarily consists on the further functional assessment around her coping skills (e.g., avoidance) in the areas of interpersonal relationships. Phase Two

Additionally, as a counselor, it is important to be genuine with whatever feedbacks one presents to the patient and what one believes regarding the situation of the client. Mrs. Perez believes the more authentic and genuine he is with her patients, the more help he will be able to offer the clients. As a counselor, it is important to have a fine and professional interaction with one 's client but boundaries must be maintained. Through this, a counselor is able to demonstrate their focus on helping the patients by showing the client that they understand their problems. It also through such engagements that counselor is able to use the non-judgmental attention that does not require words for illustration in helping the patient.

Essentially, the client should be assessed in order to properly understand the potential problem. I believe that that these first moments are the most necessary components to view the problem and be prompt about addressing it. According to Miller et al, “Another indication of severity is the extent to which clients have developed behavioral and/or physiological dependence on their preferred drugs” (74). I completely agree with this statement because the book mentions that screening alone won’t fully predict addictions.