The message to millions of physicians throughout the U.S. was somber and clear: It’s time to take the lead in the “unprecedented” war against opioid abuse.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy penned a heartfelt letter to doctors late last week, urging them to take action and refine the way they treat patients with chronic pain.
Time.com reported that overdose deaths have quadrupled since 1999. Murthy said in his letter that nearly 2 million people in America have a prescription opioid use disorder.
Murthy is asking doctors to educate themselves on the addictiveness of painkillers, citing the fact that 20 years ago, doctors were urged to be more aggressive about pain treatment. “Many of us were even taught – incorrectly – that opioids are not addictive when prescribed for legitimate pain,” he writes. He is also asking physicians to screen the people they say for opioid abuse disorder and provide them with “ evidence-based treatment.”
Murthy’s letter also asked physicians to help #TurnTheTide with an online pledge to help combat the epidemic. The National Pain Report said:
As cynical as times may seem, the public still looks to our profession for hope during difficult moments. This is one of those times. That is why I am asking you to pledge your commitment to turn the tide on the opioid crisis. Please take the pledge. Together, we will build a national movement of clinicians to do three things: First, we will educate ourselves to treat pain safely and effectively. A good place to start is the TurnTheTideRx pocket guide with the CDC Opioid Prescribing Guideline. Second, we will screen our patients for opioid use disorder and provide or connect them with evidence-based treatment. Third, we can shape how the rest of the country sees addiction by talking about and treating it as a chronic illness, not a moral failing.
By Monday, the campaign had gained steam with several hashtags and support from clinicians:
The initiative also put a face on the victims of drug abuse:
One region’s suffering
The news was welcomed in Cincinnati. The past several days have been brutal for emergency responders and hospitals dealing with a spike of overdoses.
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The Washington Post reported:
At the end of last week, after a six-day stretch of emergency room visits that exhausted first responders and their medical supplies, the overdose tally soared to a number health officials are calling “unprecedented”: 174. On average, Cincinnati sees four overdose reports per day, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported , and usually no more than 20 or 25 in a given week.
Authorities believe a bad batch of heroin that may be mixed with the “potent painkiller fentanyl or the mega-potent animal opioid carfentanil” is on the streets. According to Cincinnatti.com:
Carfentanil, an analgesic for large animals including elephants, was discovered in July in the region's heroin stream…Officials in Akron and Columbus have reported carfentanil in heroin found in their cities as well; both locations have suffered from bouts of overdoses. Hospitals in the region are not equipped to test blood for the animal opioid, which is rare and only in July surfaced in Greater Cincinnati's street heroin.
Dr. Shawn Ryan, a certified addiction expert and founder of BrightView Health, an outpatient addiction practice, said the drug is so rare and so new to the region that no local hospitals could test for carfentanil. Cincinnati.com also reported:
Mercy Health and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center officials said such tests are not available there. Nan Franks, a facilitator for the Addiction Services Council of Cincinnati, said that she is fully supportive of the effort to get the response teams in place. "People overwhelmingly want help, but we have to have a place to take them," Franks said.
If all of those who need addiction treatment were to seek it at once, she said, there wouldn't be enough help. "The treatment system would not be able to absorb the flood."
Readers, what is PR’s role in battling the opioid epidemic? What are your providers and facilities doing to help lower the frightening statistics? Please offer your thoughts in the comments section.
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