The opiate epidemic is staggering. Almost inevitably, when I tell anyone what I do professionally they refer to the opiate crisis and we discuss how unprecedented it is in it's magnitude. It is slowly coming out in the news what many of us have suspected all along, that the prescription opiates were dispensed too freely and the potential for addiction was minimized. For profit.
States, counties and municipalities have begun suing Big Pharma for essentially seeding the opiate crisis in this country.
On May 24, 2017, The state of Ohio filed a lawsuit aimed directly at Big Pharma and five of the biggest prescription painkiller manufacturers. I am citing this one because I think Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's words are poignant, direct and accurate.
The state’s lawsuit accuses the firms — Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Allergan, Purdue Pharma, Endo and Cephalon — of “borrowing a page from Big Tobacco’s playbook” and downplaying the risks of using powerful drugs like OxyContin and Percocet.
"We believe the evidence will also show that these companies got thousands and thousands of Ohioans — our friends, our family members, our co-workers, our kids — addicted to opioid pain medications,” Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine declared. “These drug manufacturers knew what they were doing was wrong, but they continued to do it anyway.”
By minimizing the risk of addiction, they helped create “a population of patients physically and psychologically dependent on them,” the suit states. “And when those patients can no longer afford or legitimately obtain opioids, they often turn to the street to buy prescription opioids, or even heroin.”
The result, DeWine said, “is a human tragedy of epic proportions, ripping families apart.”
“Opioids have become the main source of unintentional drug overdose in the state,” the suit contends.
Comparing what they did to "Big Tobacco's playbook" is astute and tragic. Big tobacco hid the addictive nature of nicotine in order to make money. How is this any different?
Drug overdoses killed about 72,000 Americans in 2017, a record number that reflects a rise of around 10 percent, according to new preliminary estimates from the Centers for Disease Control. The death toll is higher than the peak yearly death totals from H.I.V., car crashes or gun deaths. (It's over 197 per day).
That is a huge, unimaginable number. For me, and people like me, it hits much closer to home. I remember the beautiful fresh-faced teens and twenty-somethings I knew who died as a result of a drug addiction that potentially can kill you every time you use. As I am an addictions counselor, I understand how insanely powerful drug addiction can be. It very quickly ceases to be a choice. This is worse than crack, meth, and all the rest. It's huge. I see governments pouring dollars into fighting it and I can't help but wonder what they are doing with the money. What will work?
I've been doing this since 1982 and I have no idea of where to start. All I can think of that we fight opiate addiction the same way we change the world...one person at a time.
Stay tuned - I will be writing much more on this topic.
