A few weeks ago, my husband and I lost a friend to an opioid overdose. He was not the first person we knew who died from an overdose, but he was perhaps the closest. And while I am still working through the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance), the anger I have been feeling has been particularly intense. Probably because deaths by overdose are senseless.
Our friend was not alone. There were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 12-month period ending in April 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with “an increase of 28.5% from the 78,056 deaths during the same period the year before.”
Highly addictive opioids include prescription drugs like oxycodone, and addictions can lead to the use of heroin. Opioids can be effective at managing acute pain, for example after surgery or when used with compassionate care, such as with late-stage cancer patients. Opioids were never appropriate for treatment of chronic pain due to their highly addictive nature.
