Persuasive Essay On Opioids

Opioids such as OxyContin and Vicodin, are the most widespread prescribed painkiller for the treatment of moderate to chronic pain. While opioids are highly effective in masking the pain temporarily, these drugs are highly addictive. Many patients, especially those who take more than the prescribed amount, often develop a dependency on these drugs, resulting in addiction. There is growing evidence that opioid drugs are being widely prescribed and abused, causing an increase in healthcare costs. To help fight the growing dependency and addiction to these drugs, doctors should take more time explaining the many harmful side effects of these drugs to their patients before prescribing them, In addition, doctors should be up front with their patients about the likelihood of developing tolerance to the drugs, which ultimately leads to dependency. Since there is widespread abuse of these drugs, opioid prescriptions should continue
The current FDA protocol calls for pharmacies to be registered under the FDA and these pharmacies must get approval from the FDA to sell these drugs (Kindy and Sun 3). Even though the FDA approves the drugs, there is no way to monitor how many doctors are prescribing, In addition, the FDA was forced to change its rules because pharmacies were ordering drugs without the government’s consent (Tavernise 1). However, with the advancement of technology, patients should be required to undergo strict background checks, aimed at identifying those individuals who go from one doctor to another obtain additional prescription drugs. This will allow the FDA to identify drug abusers and assist them in finding the help they need to overcome addiction or dependency. With this drug monitoring program, doctors will be able to help reduce drugs abuses, saving the medical industry millions of dollars in medical costs associated with drug addicts and