Risks Associated With Prescribing Opioids

Risks Associated With Prescribing Opioids Addiction Drug Use Opioids Print Risks Associated With Prescribing Opioids By Trisha Torrey facebook twitter linkedin Trisha Torrey is a patient empowerment and advocacy consultant. She has written several books about patient advocacy and how to best navigate the healthcare system. Learn about our editorial policy Trisha Torrey Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on January 25, 2020 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on February 06, 2020 Hero Images / Getty Images More in Addiction Drug Use Opioids Cocaine Heroin Marijuana Meth Ecstasy/MDMA Hallucinogens Prescription Medications Alcohol Use Addictive Behaviors Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery There is a wide range of medications available to control pain from milder, non-addictive drugs like Tylenol (acetaminophen) or NSAIDs to potentially addictive substances like opioids. Common examples of prescription opioids include Oxycontin (oxycodone), Vicodin (hydrocodone), morphine, and methadone. Medications for milder pain are usually available over-the-counter to anyone who wishes to purchase them, and can often control minor pain like a headache or aching muscles. But stronger medications, those which control high levels of pain including chronic pain, can also induce dependence or addiction. These medications are controlled by the government, which tells us whether they are available for purchase, whether we are eligible to purchase them, how we can buy them and lays out the consequences if we obtain or use them outside the law. What Is the Controlled Substance Act? In 1970, the United States Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act. This act describes which medications and substances will be controlled and puts those  controlled substances into categories called schedules, based on their tendency to be abused. The Department of Drug Enforcement is in charge of enforcing the laws and also distinguishes which drugs have medical applications and which ones do not. How the 5 Schedules of Controlled Drugs Differ Individual states put further laws and penalties into place (rules which are continually evolving) and in recent years have over-ridden some of the federal laws. For example,  cannabis, perhaps better known as marijuana, is still considered an illegal drug by federal statute  but is legally possessed in several states in the United States. Heres a list of the five schedules included in the Controlled Substances Act, along with some of the drugs included in each schedule: Schedule I:  These are drugs that are the most easily abused but have no known, researched, medical application. They include heroin, LSD, marijuana, and ecstasy. According to federal law, these drugs may not be prescribed for any reason. While the federal laws may make their use illegal, in recent years some of the  states have reviewed, and overridden laws about marijuana (cannabis), mainly for medicinal use but also for recreational use. Many people believe marijuana relieves their pain.Schedule II:  These drugs also have a high potential for abuse, and are often used for pain control. Their use can lead to dependence, both physical and psychological. They include morphine, opium and  opioids, methadone, oxycodone, and fentanyl.Schedule III:  Less apt to lead to dependence than Schedule II substances  are these drugs which may lead to high psychological dependence, but lower levels of actual physical dependence. Included in Schedule III are many of the combination pain relief drug s such as those which combine Tylenol with codeine.Schedule IV:  Schedule IV drugs have a low potential for abuse as compared to Schedule III and may include Xanax, Valium, and Restoril.Schedule V:  These drugs may contain limited amounts of narcotics, and are considered to present a very low risk of abuse. Many cough medicines and antidiarrheals are listed in Schedule V such as Robitussin and Phenergan with codeine. Why Doctors Hesitate to Prescribe Controlled Pain Medications The  Institute of Medicine  reports that  100 million Americans suffer from chronic, perhaps debilitating pain. They also estimate that lost productivity among workers with chronic pain amounts to 61 billion dollars per year. Clearly pain and its control  have a huge impact on individuals, and on the economy, too. Doctors may recognize their patients are in pain, but because of the way the laws are written, they are hesitant, possibly even fearful, of prescribing certain medications (mostly opioids). Enforcement of the law may mean the doctor is arrested, fined, can lose his or her license, or all three. In addition and more commonly, many doctors are concerned about the potential for opioid use disorder, physical dependence (whereby a person develops withdrawal symptoms when the medication is stopped) or even opioid overdose and death from prescription opioids. Understanding Opioid Overdoses This is a legitimate worry, considering that nearly two million people in the United States abused or were dependent on prescription opioids in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are also people, commonly known as drug-seekers, who show up in doctors offices and hospitals pretending they have a medical need for prescription opioids. Its left up to the medical professionals to  determine which patients really do have a medical need vs those who do not. This can be tricky, and some doctors are more experienced than others in determining who is drug-seeking. How Pain Drug Laws Affect Your Doctor Doctors who are caught prescribing  controlled substances  to patients in an inappropriate manner and those violations become flagrant face the risk of arrest, fines, and possibly losing their license. The penalties vary by state law, but not a week goes by that there isnt a medical professional arrested somewhere in the United States for bad prescribing practices, for the death of a patient who overdosed, or for outright prescription fraud. If a doctor overprescribes any controlled substances and a patient overdoses, they can be charged in that persons death. If you demand pain drugs because your prescription has run out, or because you used your prior prescription too quickly, then your doctor is faced with a difficult choice: prescribe for you to temporarily relieve your pain or potentially face significant consequences. Is it any wonder that prescriptions for painkilling drugs are becoming more difficult to come by? Or that your doctor is reluctant to prescribe them for you? Pain Drug Laws to Promote Patient Safety As a result, there exist a number of  legal requirements and controls in the forms of paperwork, contracts, and record-keeping, to help the patients who need painkilling drugs get them, and to prevent those who dont need them from getting them. Doctor Doubling as a Drug-Seeking Behavior For instance, in 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created recommendations for primary care doctors for prescribing opioids to adults with chronic painâ€"those who have pain longer than three months that is not due to cancer or end-of-life care. The purpose of this guideline is to  optimize patient safety and medication benefits while minimizing the potential for opioid misuse or overdose. The Bottom Line While prescription opioids may alleviate your pain in the short-term, they do carry a number of potential risks, including tolerance or physical dependence. If your doctor does prescribe opioids, its important you review these risks, have timely follow-ups, establish treatment goals, and consider non-opioid pain-easing therapies whenever possible. Opioids: How They Work and How to Use Them Safely