White House Implements Plan to Fight Abuse of Prescription Opioids and Other Medications
Posted Aug 16 2011 6:43pm
Unintentional drug overdose is now the leading cause of injury death in 17 states, reports Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Thomas Frieden, MD, in a press release on the White House action plan to fight prescription drug abuse. As stressed in the plan, Epidemic: Responding to America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis, opiate overdoses are occurring more often, in large part due to prescription painkiller abuse; whereas, in the past opiate overdoses were most often due to heroin use. Acknowledging that many classes of prescription drugs are currently abused, the White House plan focuses primarily on prescription opioid abuse, a growing problem with a growing number of fatalities.
Recognizing that these pain medications “have great potential for relieving suffering, as well as great potential for abuse,” the plan seeks to strike a balance between minimizing abuse and ensuring access for legitimate use. The prescription drug abuse prevention plan focuses on four major areas:
Educating patients and health care providers
Increasing use of prescription monitoring programs (PMPs)
Implementing and promoting use of prescription drug disposal programs
Supporting law enforcement efforts against illegal prescribing
Many of the objectives for addressing these areas include working with stakeholders, such as boards of pharmacy, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), law enforcement, and nonprofit educational organizations. Further, the plan includes timelines for developing new legislation, establishing regulations for new laws, and implementing educational campaigns that will likely impact boards of pharmacy and their licensees. The plan also reinforces NABP actions and board of pharmacy efforts to fight prescription drug abuse and protect the public health.
Unintentional drug overdose is now the leading cause of injury death in 17 states, reports Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Thomas Frieden, MD, in a press release on the White House action plan to fight prescription drug abuse. As stressed in the plan, Epidemic: Responding to America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis, opiate overdoses are occurring more often, in large part due to prescription painkiller abuse; whereas, in the past opiate overdoses were most often due to heroin use. Acknowledging that many classes of prescription drugs are currently abused, the White House plan focuses primarily on prescription opioid abuse, a growing problem with a growing number of fatalities.
Recognizing that these pain medications “have great potential for relieving suffering, as well as great potential for abuse,” the plan seeks to strike a balance between minimizing abuse and ensuring access for legitimate use. The prescription drug abuse prevention plan focuses on four major areas:
Many of the objectives for addressing these areas include working with stakeholders, such as boards of pharmacy, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), law enforcement, and nonprofit educational organizations. Further, the plan includes timelines for developing new legislation, establishing regulations for new laws, and implementing educational campaigns that will likely impact boards of pharmacy and their licensees. The plan also reinforces NABP actions and board of pharmacy efforts to fight prescription drug abuse and protect the public health.