Physicians and Opioids Over-Prescription Health, Medicine Essay

Physicians and Opioids Over-Prescription
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Physicians and Opioids Over-Prescription
The United States is currently facing an opioid epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 115 people die every day as a result of opioid overdose (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018). The misuse and addiction of opioids is a national crisis with severe implications on public health, economic and social welfare. The CDC estimated the loss incurred following prescription opioid misuse alone to be $78.5 billion a year. Over-prescription of opioids by medical practitioners started in the late 1990s and led to the widespread diversion and misuse of the medications as they are highly addictive (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018).
The latest case related to opioid prescription in the spotlight of the media is the case of David Lague, aged 61 years and a former physician assistant in San Leandro. On 24 July 2018, he was convicted of 39 counts of distributing opioids including oxymorphone, fentanyl, oxycodone, and clonazepam among others outside medical practice and without medical reasons (Department of Justice, 2018). The findings of the jury...