Assignment #16- Miller Luhan- Prescription Pills and the Epidemic that Followed

Sometime during mid-September, I drive down Tates Creek Road. A friend sits next to me on our way to golf practice and suddenly she lets out a scream, “No way!” at the time I couldn’t tell if she was excited or taken aback, so I responded simply with “What?”

I quickly realized it was not a happy burst of energy, she had just received news that Mac Miller died. While I’m not too attached to this music artist, I recall my friend mentioning the memories she had with her sister listening to his songs. She starts crying. I was careful not to upset her more but I was quite curious as to how he died. I mean, I barely knew who the guy was and truthfully, I figured he was just shot or something. 

Later that night my curious mind inquires to Google. The reports announce an accidental overdose of fentanyl as his official cause of death. My initial reaction was that this was not a surprise. How many people do you hear of dying of overdoses? But, after reflecting on this for a while I realized how disheartening it actually was that so many people die this way. The predominance of opioid addiction in the United States is significant for several reasons- which I will address in this speech- but first, let me tell you exactly what the problem is, who it affects, and its economic impacts. Then, like any other topic, I will conclude with a few thoughts and ideas for solutions.

So, first, what is the problem? Well for starters, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, every day more than 130 people in the United States die from an opioid drug overdose (National Institute on Drug Abuse). The problem is widespread, and clearly presents a problem to public health and social and economic welfare. Naturally, the next question is how did we get here? How did we as a country become so dependent on highly addictive medications? Clearly put, in the 1990s, when opioids were a relatively new product on the medical market, pharmaceutical companies promised doctors that the use of medicines like OxyContin did not cause dependency in patients (National Institute on Drug Abuse). Doctors then started prescribing these drugs to their patients at an unprecedented rate. This started the first wave of the opioid crisis- causing use disorders, death, and frankly, a distrust in the pharmaceutical community.

From a social perspective, the epidemic is far broader than you may think. Generally, drug addiction affects those with lower income levels, lack of opportunity, and minimal education. But, what if I told you that middle-aged white men with college degrees are the most common victims? Research by the American Public Health Association shows that social distress is a likely factor of addiction. In other words, people with simple problems like back pain after undergoing extensive surgery, get hooked on these drugs because of their addictive nature. But, if that person simultaneously suffers from mental health disorders, they are far more likely to not only get addicted but use a dangerous amount (Dasgupta).

In tandem, the implications are not only far-reaching on a geographic level, but they are also generational. Pregnancy and the misuse of these drugs present another layer to the problem. Children born to mothers who suffer from addiction to opioids are born with the same problem. They spend their first month of life in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, undergoing a series of procedures to limit the effects of the drugs on their tiny bodies. According to the British Medical Journal, the number of infants born with this condition, called NAS or Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, tripled between 2000 and 2009 (Volkow).

On an economic level, doctors and pharmaceutical companies obviously benefit the most, but what is the gain? Money and money, that’s about it. Big Pharma, a company that Mackelmore references in his truthful yet saddening song “Drug Dealer”, is a large contributor to the epidemic (Macklemore). The company grew its roots in knowing that its products lead to abuse. As doctors started getting in trouble for selling these products to their patients- which Macklemore also includes in his song as he sings “My drug dealer was a doctor”- Pharma told the courts during a four-year investigation that their medications are far less addictive than any of the others on the market (Meier). This is despite being known as the “plug” for the medical community, and being the largest contributor to spikes in prescription pill users. They were found fraudulent on multiple accounts but were let go and the case was settled by the government. The whole thing kind of blew over until early this year, when the executives of the company were finally convicted, but what's more, in late November, as in like 2 weeks ago, the company had parts of these charges overturned (Dearment). 

Needless to say, it is evident that the problem is complicated. Especially considering that parts of the medical industry, pharmaceutical companies, and the government find the selling of these drugs economically beneficial, and it’s not until after people die that actions need to be taken. In relation to current day, the whole Juul scandal did not take place until, yep, after people died or were hurt by its effects.

In conclusion, The National Institute on Drug Abuse has put initiatives together following the spike in these drug-related deaths. Some examples are the improvement of access to treatment and recovery services, creating better pain management practices, and educating the public (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). But in many ways, it seems that the best way to solve problems like this is to prevent them in the first place. Obviously, no one can predict the future and it is almost impossible to know the extent of the impacts, but we have seen this cycle repeat so many times before. So, what I’d like to ask you is: what can you do on a smaller, personal level to help someone and make an impact on the world? Remember, every day 130 people die of these overdoses and without community involvement and action, the fix will take much longer than we can afford.