Our preoccupation with opioid misuse could become the tail wagging the dog
Bob Roehr biomedical journalist. Washington, DC, USA
BMJ 2017;359:j4727
It is rare that we hear from those who use prescription opioids on a chronic basis. Their voices are important counterpoints to the loud, self-righteous jeremiads of physicians, politicians and law enforcement professionals.
Roehr tells us:
- Demonising prescription opioids can come to no good end.
- I use an opioid drug, hydrocodone, every six hours, and have done so for about a decade.
- The surge in opioid related deaths in the US is troubling. But it is important to remember that it is fueled by street drugs and by fentanyl and its analogues, either alone or laced into a variety of illicit drugs.
- People who have lost access to prescription opioids have turned to cheaper, more accessible, and more dangerous, potent black market options, according to experts, and the death toll has soared.
Full BMJ article: Download Roehr Don't Demonize Opioids