Prescription Drug Overdoses: An American Epidemic

The United States is in the grip of an epidemic of prescription drug overdoses. Over 27,000 people died from overdoses in 2007, a number that has risen five-fold since 1990 and has never been higher. Prescription drugs are now involved in more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.

For health professionals, policymakers and legislators, addressing this problem is complicated—while they push for education, prevention, and enforcement to reverse this epidemic, they must also ensure that patients with a legitimate need for these medications still have access to them. This important session of Public Health Grand Rounds will address these challenges and explore the innovative state and federal policies and interventions that are showing promise in reducing injury and death from this epidemic.

Comments on this video are allowed in accordance with our comment policy: http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/CommentPolicy.html

This video can also be viewed at http://www.cdc.gov/about/grand-rounds/archives/2011/1-February.htm

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• CDC
• Public Health Grand Rounds
• Grand Rounds
• disease prevention
• health
• prescription
• prescription drug abuse
• drug abuse
• suicide
• overdose
• addiction
• prescription drug overdose
• Tanja Popovic
• Shane Joiner
• injury
• Grant Baldwin
• Gary Franklin
• Len Paulozzi
• Gil Kerlikowske
• pain killers
• heroin
• hydrocodone
• oxycontin
• oxycodone
• opioid
• ehealth
• social media
• cdc
• healthcare
• health care
• Government
• centers for disease control

[iatrogenicsteve]

A pragmatic approach would be to induct all these patients into the healthcare system so their medical needs are properly addressed instead of criminalized.

[iatrogenicsteve]

Typically, the focus is taken off the focus of the suffering of chronic pain patients and onto the criminality of a problem our government's policies created

[iatrogenicsteve]

Yeah, like trashing this BS

[makeiteasyable]

immediate action should be undertaken.

[Vipguy2003]

@1600Percent

I couldn't agree more,1600Percent !!! Until drugs are legalized & drug testing is illegal America is not a free country. The drugs laws have ruined more lives than drugs ever could. It amazes me how society supports draconian drug laws yet alcohol & cigarettes are socially acceptable. I don't need big brother telling me what I can & can't put in my body. They make drug use sound like the plague with all this epidemic BS.

[1600Percent]

They had to spend an hour talking about this. The solution is simple legalize all drugs and provide people with naloxone (The drug that reverses opiate overdose). The end result would be no death's as a result of painkiller overdose, less people being converted into first time users by addicts hoping to rip them off and score b/c it would actually be affordable, and a society that can live without the fear of prosecution and being labeled as scum for a personal habit.

[Intoactionrehab]

If its drug prescription abuse an epidemic already, then immediate action should be undertaken.no time should be wasted to work against it.

[TheQueenSherwood]

@Alexplus20 that weed was laced man! know your weed and trust who you get it from!

[cakeordeath211]

@Alexplus20 ....bloomtoferal is right, YOU are a COUSIN FUCKING retard.

[bloomtoferal]

@Alexplus20 You ever get Gameshark to work on your local Gamer system?