Opioid Crisis Essay

Document Type:Thesis

Subject Area:Computer Science

Document 1

Opioid addiction contributed to 116 deaths each day due to overdoses, 11. 5 million misused prescriptions with over 42,000 deaths and 2. 1 million opioid-related disorders occurring in 2016 (National Institute of Drug Abuse. (n. d. Another indication of opioid use in patients diagnosed with chronic pain related to cancer. Cancer causes pain of increased intensity that often fails to respond to the other non-opioid analgesia. Cancer treatment with opioid-based medication also provides the patient with not only pain relive but also increased comfort to the patient. The indication for the use of chronic opioid therapy is also on patients who experience break-through pain which is sudden pain of high intensity. Chronic opioid therapy is indicated in the management of patients who have non-cancer pain for patients where the pain is having a significant negative impact on their day-to-day functioning and the benefits of initiating the chronic opioid therapy outweighs the risks or dangers.

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Opioids are considered for prescription if the benefits to the patients outweigh the risks of prescribing the medication and when such a prescription confers substantive benefits to the patient. Patient assessment also includes the assessment of the patient’s risk for opioid addiction. Another standard in the initiation of chronic opioid therapy is that the initial titration of the opioid medications should be considered trial to assess the effectiveness of the therapy and the initiation of the opioid dosing and titration should be patient-centered. Patient-centered in that the opioid medication should be based on patient’s health needs, history and level of attainment of therapeutic goals. In opioid naïve patients, the initiation of the medication ought to be done in small doses to minimize risk of the occurrence of opioid-related adverse effects.

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Opioid therapy should be accompanied effectively with other interventions such as functional restoration interventions for patients with limited functionality among others. The inclusion of multimodal approaches is effective in improving the patient’s experience of care. Question 2 Opioid treatment carries with it a high risk of addiction for patients using the opioid-based medications. One of the key strategies in reducing the risk of addiction to opioids in patients is to ensure an elaborate and effective patient assessment and follow-up plan (Peltz & Südhof, 2018). Patient’s history and follow-up is critical to preventing addiction as it provides with information on patient’s previous use of the medication. Patient education ensures that the patient is well aware and communicates with the physician or nurse in case of any concerns on the drugs.

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Abuse-deterrent formulations of opioid medications can also play a critical part in the prevention of opioid abuse. Manufacturers of opioid medications have in the past been researching the manufacture of medications that prevent crushing, grinding or dissolving of the medications which effectively prevents the use of the medication for abuse such as through sorting or injections. Other non-abuse techniques tested include agonist/antagonist combinations that induce antagonist effect of the drug if it is tampered with. The ultimate prevention to opioid addiction is the development of alternative medications that are as effective as opioid analgesics for the effective management of pain. et al. Guideline for opioid therapy and chronic noncancer pain.  Canadian Medical Association Journal, 189(18), E659-E666. doi: 10. 1503/cmaj. doi: 10. 1001/jama.

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