Increasing Risks of Unintentional Pain Medication Overdose
Opioid pain medications, such as oxycodone and morphine, have long been known as highly addictive, and thus potentially dangerous, drugs. Because of this there has always been a lot of controversy regarding this type of medication. They are often abused, and the consequences of abuse and addiction can be very serious. At high doses, opioids suppress respiration. The user can end up suffocating and dying.
According to recent findings, individuals who legitimately take significant amounts of prescribed opioid pain medications are vulnerable to an accidental overdose. The research involved close to 10,000 participants. These individuals suffered from chronic pain, and had been given at least 3 prescriptions for opioid pain medications within a 90 day period.
The study showed that 51 patients had overdosed at least once on the medications. 6 overdoses resulted in death.
The study also revealed that those who were prescribed higher doses were more likely to overdose. For those receiving a daily dose equal to at least 100 mg of morphine, approximately 1 patient in every 60 overdosed in a year. However, if the equivalent daily dose was lower than 20 mg of morphine, only 1 patient in 500 ended up overdosing.
Considering the vast number of people in the U.S. suffering from severe chronic pain, who take prescription opioids, those numbers are quite significant. They strongly suggest that overdoses could number well into the thousands annually. Clearly, ongoing prescriptions for opioids should be given with caution.
Deaths caused by opioid overdose have been increasing at alarming rates over the past 29 years as more and more prescriptions are written.
Many overdoses occur amongst drug abusers who don’t have a prescription. However, this research shows that those of especially high risk are patients who have struggled with either substance issues or depression. This finding supports that idea that, prior to commencing treatment with opioid pain medications, the physician should focus on assessing patients’ risk of abusing the drug before prescribing it as part of treatment.
One of the key points to take away from this research is that anyone who requires opioid pain medication for a prolonged period of time should be very careful to not exceed the prescribed amount.
This study was published recently in the Annals of Internal Medicine.