Prevent Death from Improper Prescription Pain Medication Use

Many medical doctors prescribe different kinds of drugs to their patients to cure diseases and help ease symptoms. Proper use of prescription pain medications can make individuals with chronic (long-term) pain to lead productive lives. Unfortunately, some people inappropriately use pain relievers resulting in either fatal or nonfatal overdoses.

People can improperly use prescription medications used to manage pain by: using their medication in higher doses than what was prescribed; using it for other non-medical purposes such as getting high or just for fun; or using someone else's medication to relieve their pain.

In 2006, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), about 5.2 million people have taken pain relievers for non-medical purposes in the United States. A 2007 Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey conducted by the NIDA found that there was continued increased rates of improper use, mainly for non-medical purposes, of the pain relievers Vicodin and OxyContin among grade school students in the US. This has become a public safety concern.

According to the NIDA, the most commonly abused pain medications are opioids, such as hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin®), oxycodone (e.g., OxyContin®), morphine and fentanyl. While these medicines are safe when used properly according to prescription, it can cause serious effects if it falls on the wrong hands.

Drugs used to alleviate pain may lead to addiction. Also, taking pain medications in a large single dose or crushing the pills and then snorting or injecting the powder can lead to severe respiratory complications or death.

The following are simple tips that people can do to prevent serious complications or death from accidental or improper use of pain medications.

Keep medications locked up in a safe place. This would prevent accidental ingestion by children. Also, this could fend off others who are looking around for medications to take for nonmedical reasons.

Use prescription drugs as per doctor's orders. People should follow their health care provider's instructions carefully. Avoid changing the dose without talking to your doctor first. Also, you should learn about the effects and side effects the drug could have. Your doctor will be able to explain this to you further.

Avoid taking medications that are not specifically prescribed for you. Using someone else's medicine can cause adverse effects. Doctors consider several factors when prescribing pain relief medicines including the age, cause and severity of pain. What might be an effective dose for someone may be not be equally safe for you.

Do not share your pain medication with others. Many people can get prescription pain medicine illegally. In the weekly CDC's A Cup of Health with CDC (February 2010), Erin Johnson, a researcher with the Utah Department of Health, said that most of those who get the medicine illegally get it from friends or family. She added, "The majority of them say that it was given to them freely."

Never take the drug with alcohol or other drugs. Mixing opioids with alcohol and other drugs, such as antihistamines, barbiturates, or benzodiazepines can cause severe respiratory depression, a life-threatening condition.

Lastly, people should dispose of their pain medicines once they're done with it. Experts recommend that the unused drugs be mixed with something undesirable, such as coffee grounds or kitty litter, and placed in sealed container before putting it in the trash. Also information from prescription bottles should be removed and disposed of separately.

Avoid flushing the unused pain medications down the toilet or pouring it down a sink as this can cause contamination of ground and surface water. According to the Utah Department of Health, wastewater treatment facilities are not able to remove these drugs from sewage water.

Remember! Prescription pain medications are safe and effective when used properly. Misused, they can kill!

Sources:

A Cup of Health with CDC: Deadly Drugs (February 2010). Retrieved on March 4, 2010, from http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/player.asp?f=770073#transcript.

Prescription Drug Abuse (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2010, from http://www.drugabuse.gov/tib/prescription.html.

A Guide to Safe Use of Pain Medicine (February 2009). Retrieved on March 4, 2010, from http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm095673.htm.

Prescription Pain Medication (n.d.). Retrieved on March 4, 2010, from http://useonlyasdirected.utah.gov/.

Proper Disposal of Medications (n.d.). Retrieved on March 4, 2010, from http://useonlyasdirected.utah.gov/index.php?p_resource=education_disposal.