Page 40 - Delaware Medical Journal - July/August 2020
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You Can Personally Help Stem the Tide of Addiction
Karyl Rattay, MD, MS While the COVID-19 pandemic
has overtaken most people’s
awareness, deaths from suspected drug overdoses continue to
occur at high numbers. As of June 6, 2020, 160 people have died in our state from a suspected overdose this year.
Delaware has made some progress in reducing the number of overdoses from prescription drugs. Prescribing rates for opioids in Delaware decreased by 25% between 2013 and 2017. Still, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the rate of high-dose, long-acting opioid prescriptions written. The CDC also ranks Delaware second in the nation for its rate of overdose deaths. Three out of four people who use heroin misused
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Co-prescribing opioids and benzodiazepines remains all too common. The combination can be deadly, as both drugs suppress breathing. Controlled substances can also be deadly on their own. Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) records from the Drug Overdose and Mortality Surveillance Report, Delaware, 2017 show that 80% of those who died from a drug overdose were prescribed a controlled substance. The study also shows that of those who died, females and those who were white, older, and highly educated were more likely
to have been prescribed a controlled substance.
The use of opioids to help patients manage
in the past two decades. However, recent studies have shown that other therapies are more effective and less likely to lead to misuse. To reduce the overprescribing of opioid medications, I am urging
all Delaware health care providers to consider non-opioid pain management
Acetaminophen; nonsteroidal anti-
when appropriate, gabapentin, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (NSRIs), along with topical agents, are all medications that should be considered before prescribing opioids to manage pain.
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Del Med J | July/August 2020 | Vol. 92 | No. 4
