Reflections on International Overdose Awareness Day

Every year on August 31st, International Overdose Awareness Day is observed. This somber day serves as a memorial to the more than 500,000 lives lost, as well as a reminder of how far we have come in combating addiction in America. Proper awareness necessitates introspection about the crisis’s causes, efforts to lessen its repercussions, and solutions for moving ahead to combat the opioid epidemic.

Several factors contributed to the onset and spread of the opioid epidemic. In 1995, the American Pain Society designated pain as the fifth vital sign. That same year, Purdue Pharma promoted oxycodone (OxyContin), using marketing efforts that emphasized the benefits of prolonged pain relief while downplaying the risks. As a result, Purdue, Allergan, Endo International, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd all minimized the significant risk and potential of addiction that their opioids pose.

After 17 years, prescribers had written more than 259 million opioid prescriptions, enough to supply every adult in the country with a bottle of painkillers.

Advertising and misleading information about the addictive qualities of extended-release opioids aren’t the only reasons this crisis has persisted. In addition, the FDA discovered that numerous large drug wholesalers were involved in the uncontrolled trafficking of…