Economic and social cost of the opioid crisis. Economics Essay

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Economic and Social Cost of the Opioid Crisis
Opioid crises and misuse have posed significant threats to the healthcare costs of the United States. Current trends reveal that people die of overdoses each year, the majority of which involve opioid drugs. Although all individuals are vulnerable to the effects of the opioid epidemic, the vulnerable populations, such as those from economically deprived backgrounds, can suffer far-reaching consequences. Medical practitioners prescribe drugs daily to patients in different parts of the world as one of the ways of enhancing the overall health levels of the entire population. The ongoing opioid epidemic has been spurring for several decades resulting from the misuse of prescribed and illegal drugs. Codeine, morphine, oxycodone, and fentanyl are the various forms of opioids, which have far-reaching consequences across the United States.
The United States reached the peak of the opioid crisis in 2015 after drug overdose became one of the leading causes of death in the country. Statistics indicate that the country recorded a total of thirty-three deaths as a result of opioids. For that reason, President Donald Trump pronounced the crisis as a national health emergency. According to Brill and Ganz, the opioid epidemic has been one of the major concerns based on increased awareness among the members of the public (23). According to research findings, every stakeholder ought to find effective strategies for addressing the pandemic. Notably, the top government officials have to formulate an effective plan of addressing the issues of misuse of opioids to decrease the number of drug-related deaths.
The prescription of drugs is one of the leading factors in the opioid crisis. However, economic and social upheaval are equally relevant factors, which have fueled the crises. According to Dasgupta, et al., the use of heroin, fentanyl analogs, and opioid analgesics has influenced the trajectory of the crises (182). The authors postulate that the roots of the opioid crisis are deeper more than the existing popular narratives. The revelations of undertreated chronic pain and normative practice influenced a change in United States medicine (Parramore 2). Besides, pharmaceutical innovations have propagated oral dissolving strips, transdermal patches, and na...