During the year of 2014 over 47,000 deaths occurred due to overdoses on opioids (CDC, 2016). Prescription drug abuse is a rising epidemic in the United States as there has been a 200% increase in the amount of deaths involving opioids from 2000-2014 (CDC, 2016). One of the main concerns for this increase is that these drugs are not being illegally purchased and distributed, but are being legally prescribed to patients by doctors. The question that many ask is, "How can prescription drug abuse be decreased if most of these drugs are being obtained legally?" An answer to this would be to approach the source of where these drugs are being legally obtained from and put some requirements into position that would make it more difficult to get them
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The role a physician plays in writing many prescriptions that are not necessary is not usually brought to the public's attention until a celebrity overdoses on prescription drugs. One of the first occasions of this was when Michael Jackson went into cardiac arrest and later died due to the combination of at least six different drugs found in his body ("Prescription Medication Abuse", 2015). Jackson's personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter because he allowed access of many prescription drugs that Mr. Jackson requested from him ("Prescription Medication Abuse", 2015). It may have been because Dr. Murray was a doctor who acted alone and did not receive input from other physicians that this situation was not handled correctly and resulted in the death of a pop culture icon. Situations like this one could have been prevented if other doctors were required to agree on what to administer to their patients and if they were properly monitored unlike in Mr. Jackson's …show more content…
Prescription drug abuse is an increasing problem that is rising at a very high rate and can lead to deadly consequences; between 2000-2014 half a million Americans died from drug overdoses (CDC, 2016). This proposal should be acted upon because it is not to drastic of a step and it will not eliminate prescription drug abuse, but it will instead cause a decrease of abuse from the people who obtain legal prescriptions. If this proposal is not put into place or no action is taken within the doctors' offices, prescription drug abuse will more than likely continue to increase at an alarming rate because the access of these drugs will still largely be through physicians. It is only from a path of action through doctors that will cause the greatest reduction in prescription drug abuse and overdoses. People do not have to give up much for this proposal, which is why it would be so beneficial in handling prescription drug abuse in the United
The role a physician plays in writing many prescriptions that are not necessary is not usually brought to the public's attention until a celebrity overdoses on prescription drugs. One of the first occasions of this was when Michael Jackson went into cardiac arrest and later died due to the combination of at least six different drugs found in his body ("Prescription Medication Abuse", 2015). Jackson's personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter because he allowed access of many prescription drugs that Mr. Jackson requested from him ("Prescription Medication Abuse", 2015). It may have been because Dr. Murray was a doctor who acted alone and did not receive input from other physicians that this situation was not handled correctly and resulted in the death of a pop culture icon. Situations like this one could have been prevented if other doctors were required to agree on what to administer to their patients and if they were properly monitored unlike in Mr. Jackson's …show more content…
Prescription drug abuse is an increasing problem that is rising at a very high rate and can lead to deadly consequences; between 2000-2014 half a million Americans died from drug overdoses (CDC, 2016). This proposal should be acted upon because it is not to drastic of a step and it will not eliminate prescription drug abuse, but it will instead cause a decrease of abuse from the people who obtain legal prescriptions. If this proposal is not put into place or no action is taken within the doctors' offices, prescription drug abuse will more than likely continue to increase at an alarming rate because the access of these drugs will still largely be through physicians. It is only from a path of action through doctors that will cause the greatest reduction in prescription drug abuse and overdoses. People do not have to give up much for this proposal, which is why it would be so beneficial in handling prescription drug abuse in the United