Staggering Statistics
Every day, more than 115 Americans die from an opioid overdose.
66% of overdoses involve an opioid
The “economic burden” of prescription opioid misuse in the United States is $78.5 billion a year.
2 million Americans are addicted to opioids
30% of prescribed opioids are misused
80% of heroin users first used prescription opioids
Among opioid users, those who are dependent on these prescription drugs are more likely to try heroin compared with those who are not dependent.
One study has estimated that 1 in 15 prescription drug abusers will try heroin within 10 years of opioid abuse.
Can Opioids Kill Me?
Prescription drugs are always safest when used as directed by a healthcare professional.
Non-medical use or abuse of opioid prescription drugs can lead to overdose and death. The behaviors that can lead to overdose and death are:
- Taking more pills than directed
- Crushing and snorting or injecting the medication
- Combining opioids with other sedative or depressant substances, including alcohol
Recover Your Opioid Addiction Costs
Drug manufacturers lied to us about the addictive nature of opioids, and medical professionals prescribe them. Prescribing these drugs in high doses and for prolonged periods of time can lead to addiction and other devastating injuries. These include, among other adverse side effects, dependence, the craving to seek more drugs, use of other legal pain killers, use of other illegal drugs, and worst of all, overdose and death.
Doctors should only prescribe powerful opioid pain-killers such as fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, or methadone (drugs with common names such as Vicodin, Percocet, and OxyContin) for short term, intense pain, not to treat chronic pain conditions.
America’s opioid epidemic has affected, injured, or killed tens of thousands of Americans. It’s a national tragedy. All of these injuries could have been prevented. Drug manufacturers of opioid pain-killers have advertised their products as being less addictive than they actually are. Drug manufacturers have sometimes alleged that these drugs are safe to treat chronic pain. This marketing has lured scores of medication users and even doctors, into a false sense of security in using and prescribing such drugs.
If you or a loved one became addicted to an opioid, overdosed, hospitalized from an overdose, or used an opioid during pregnancy and the baby has a birth defect, contact us today. We have decades of experience going against pharmaceutical companies and drug manufacturers that produce unsafe products.
