Are You at Increased Risk for Opioid Painkiller Addiction?

Addiction to opioid painkillers is a true epidemic in today's Western world. These are powerful pain-relief medications based on opium - morphine. Such drugs are typically prescribed for short-term relief of severe pain, like pain following surgery or injury.

The problem? Unlike 'regular' painkillers (think acetaminophen or dipyrone), opioid painkillers carry a high risk of addiction. Apart from the severe problems of the addiction itself, careless use of these medications can lead to confusion, hallucinations, liver damage, and sometimes even death - much like an overdose of any drug. One hundred people in the U.S. die daily from addiction to these painkillers, an addiction that usually began from a doctor's attempt to help.

Which medications are involved? In the country, among others, morphine in various release mechanisms, OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan, and others are known.

Doctors are trying to reduce the number of prescriptions for opioid painkillers, but they can't avoid them completely because these drugs are indeed effective. To try to develop a sensible decision-making system regarding when to prescribe these drugs and when to avoid them, a massive study published last Monday examined a sample of 72,000 American adults and reached conclusions about the groups at increased risk of opioid addiction.

First, men were more likely than women to misuse painkillers - 13% of men who received a prescription for opioid painkillers did not follow the doctor's instructions, compared to 9% of women. Men were twice as likely to develop a real addiction.

Socioeconomic background was also found to affect addiction risk: patients who were unemployed or earned a low salary were at a higher risk of misuse and addiction.

Depression and suicidal thoughts were also found to increase the risk of inappropriate drug use and addiction.

Another important finding of the study was that 60% of adults who misused these medications did not have their own prescription but obtained the drug through other means. More than 40% of those who misused the drug said they received it for free from a friend or family member. The researchers conclude that doctors probably prescribe too large quantities of drugs, even in justified cases, which results in leftover pills that the patient can later distribute to potential addicts.

So if it's not yet clear: lending someone Percocet or Percodan is not a mitzvah, in the absence of a doctor’s prescription. In fact, it could kill...