Prescription Pill Abuse in Cleveland, Ohio and the United States

Posted by Kevin Smith
7
Mar 16, 2017
107 Views
America is currently in a drug crisis, and it isn’t trafficking from Mexico and South America. Drug addicts today are not people living on the streets and prostituting themselves to fund their next fix. Drug addicts today are working-class Americans who are getting hooked on the medicines their doctors are prescribing them. That’s right. The drug epidemic today has a new victim and that is those who suffer from prescription pill abuse in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Doctors Know Better

What makes this epidemic so unbelievable isn’t the people who are getting hooked on drugs, it’s the fact that doctors know better. Medical professionals learned decades ago how addictive heroin is. Although initially believed to be viable cures for ailments, drugs such as heroin and cocaine were eventually pulled out of the medical arsenal due to their addictive and fatal properties. So, why is the country suddenly seeing more and more people becoming addicted to opioids? Because the doctors are prescribing them, despite their knowledge of the habit-forming dangers these drugs carry.

A Name by Another

You might not realize you’re taking heroin every time you pop that pain killer your doctor prescribed, but these medications are manufactured from the same poppy plant from which opium is derived. Prescribed medication manufactured from opioids include codeine, found commonly in cough syrup; diphenoxylate, called Lomotil; fentanyl or Duragesic; hydrocodone, which is known as Vicodin, Lortab or Lorcet; hydromorphone or Dilaudid; meperidine AKA Demerol; methadone; morphine, one of the most addictive; oxycodone, known as OxyContin, Percodan or Percocet; and propoxyphene or Darvon. With a list such as this, it’s no wonder prescription pill abuse in Cleveland, Ohio is such a problem.

Some Frightening Statistics

Despite the facts below as reported by the Centers for Disease Control, doctors continue to prescribe opioids, and many people become drug addicts due to the negligence of the medical practitioners. As the CDC reports, opioid-related deaths are in the rise in the U.S., which makes absolutely no sense when you consider how advanced the nation is. This is a nation that should know better, yet opioid deaths have quadrupled since 1999. Quadrupled. That statistic is mind-boggling.

In fact, the CDC states that 91 Americans die from an opioid OD every day, and a good portion of the ODs are from using prescribed medication. The CDC confirms that the prescribed drugs are what have driven these numbers so high, because not only have the deaths quadrupled, sales have quadrupled as well. It doesn’t take a mathematician to break down this formula: four times more prescriptions, four times more deaths.

There is no excuse for prescription pill abuse in Cleveland, Ohio. Those who should know better continue to give vulnerable people access to these dangerous and addictive drugs. If you or a loved one has become addicted to prescribed medication and suffered losses as a direct result, you may be entitled to hold those accountable for the scrip in the first place. Speak with a qualified attorney about your circumstances to determine if you have a right to pursue legal action against your doctor.
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