How Addictive are Opioids?

“We are discussing this topic today because there is an ongoing prescription pain killer epidemic happening right here in the US and we have the power to do something about it!

“When patients get an initial opioid prescription that’s just a one-day supply, they have about a six-percent chance of being on opioids for a year or longer. But if that first prescription is for a three-day supply, the probability of long-term use starts inching up. With an initial five-day supply, the chance jumps to about 10 percent. With a six-day supply, the chance hits 12 percent. With 10-day’s worth, the odds of still being on opioids a year later hit roughly 20 percent.

So, with an initial 10-day opioid prescription, about one-in-five patients become long-term users. That’s according to the new study’s lead author Bradley Martin, a professor of pharmaceutical evaluation and policy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science. It’s a fast rise, Martin said to Ars. “We really didn’t expect that.”

To calculate the probabilities, Martin and his colleagues tracked the prescription records of nearly 1.3 million patients. Those patients were all 18 or older, cancer-free, and got at least one opioid prescription between June 2006 and September 2015. They also didn’t have any history of opioid abuse.

The CDC estimates that 91 people die of an opioid overdose every day in the US.

We featured this article because most people just don’t know how addictive are opioids. They don’t know the opioid epidemic is killing millions of American’s a year. They don’t know the addiction potential for a single prescription and we didn’t know the success rate in non-prescription interventions like chiropractic care. If you know someone that needs this information please pass it along because it might save their family from grief and agony and it might also save that persons life. Knowledge is power and we are here for you.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have health questions!

Yours in Health,
Team at CCC”