By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    benefits of using protein powder to build muscles
    Protein Powder for Muscle Mass: Everything You Need to Know
    December 12, 2021
    changes brought on by blockchain in healthcare
    Technology In The Healthcare Industry
    March 28, 2022
    What Does Core Body Temperature Say About Health?
    August 17, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    FDA Approves Diabetes Pill
    May 2, 2011
    Patient Gets Drunk on Hand Sanitizer
    June 20, 2011
    Cultivating Health Improvement
    July 20, 2011
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: What To Do About Heroin and Oxycontin
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Public Health > What To Do About Heroin and Oxycontin
Public Health

What To Do About Heroin and Oxycontin

DavidEWilliams
Last updated: April 26, 2013 7:33 am
DavidEWilliams
Share
4 Min Read
Image
SHARE

USA Today has a full page article on the rise of heroin addiction in the suburbs, but adds absolutely nothing to what’s already widely known.

USA Today has a full page article on the rise of heroin addiction in the suburbs, but adds absolutely nothing to what’s already widely known. (See, for example, my post on the topic from early 2012.) Teens and adults start by abusing the painkiller oxycontin, which is available by prescription, then turn to shooting heroin once they figure out how pricey it is to acquire oxycontin on the street.Image

The article presents no real ideas on what to do about the problem. If anything the article implies that it would be better to make oxycontin more widely available in order to stem the use of heroin. That’s a nonsensical approach as far as I’m concerned.

There are alternative approaches that might be more promising.

More Read

Thoughts on Geraldine Ferraro, and Myeloma
What the Ebola Outbreak Shows Us About Modern Health Technology
Health Wonk Review: The New Wright on Health Edition
Addressing Chronic Diseases Would Reduce Debt, Generate Savings
Medicaid Expansion Rejection Starts to Bite

One idea is to establish better guidelines on the prescribing of painkillers after surgery. Many patients –maybe you’ve been one of them– receive an overly generous supply of oxycontin or vicodin after a minor surgical or dental procedure. Sometimes the patient gets addicted from that initial supply, other times the extras end up in the family medicine cabinet where teens might find them and try them out. It’s not always obvious how to dispose of these medications, which contributes to them hanging around.

One hurdle to overcome is that follow-up visits are inconvenient and also not very profitable for doctors. Perhaps if there were quality measures associated with good practices that would change the equation and tighten the initial supply.

Another issue relates to so-called “drug seekers.” We’ve all heard about drug seeking patients who come to the emergency room to get drugs. There are IT systems coming online that can at least identify such drug seekers and alert doctors, but this only works if the systems are consulted, which may not happen when middle-class patients are involved. It’s easy to label patients as “drug seekers,” which makes them sound like bad people. Some are. But many others are patients who are somewhere down the path toward dependency. They’re not trying to become oxycontin addicts and certainly aren’t looking to move to heroin. Rather than turning people away it would be better to have a path to refer these patients into treatment and then to track their progress.

There are great opportunities for physicians, payers, employers, consumers and pain management experts to work together to develop a more comprehensive view of the problem, to develop a strategy to address it, create new quality and safety measures related to achieving the strategy, and align incentives so that physicians are rewarded for doing the right thing.

We won’t solve the problem of painkiller abuse in one shot. But it’s reasonable to start by tightening up on the relatively easy places, such as cutting down on the distribution of unneeded post-surgical pain meds and figuring out how to better direct “drug seekers.”

image:drugabuse/shutterstock

TAGGED:pharmaprescription drug abuse
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Do You Grind Your Teeth at Night? Here’s How Night Guards and TMJ Treatments Can Help
Do You Grind Your Teeth at Night? Here’s How Night Guards and TMJ Treatments Can Help
Dental health
May 21, 2025
The Secret To A Confident Smile: Top Tips For Better Teeth
The Secret To A Confident Smile: Top Tips For Better Teeth
Dental health
May 21, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025

You Might also Like

rash caused by drug
BusinessHospital AdministrationPolicy & LawPublic Health

Medical Complications Torture Doctors, Too

September 25, 2014

Dying in America? Bureaucrats Care

October 16, 2014

More on the Longevity Project

March 17, 2011
BusinessMedical DevicesMedical InnovationsMobile HealthNewsPublic HealthSocial Media

HIT Innovation Founder Stories:Jakob Jønck, Co-Founder, Endomondo

March 20, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?