The Opioid Crisis: Patient Safety and Education

This national public health emergency affects millions of Americans. The amount of opioids prescribed tripled between 1999 and 2015, and these medications, though quite effective for some types of pain, pose serious risks. Along with dependence and addiction, users may also experience a lesser-known adverse effect that can actually increase the amount of pain they feel (a condition called opioid-induced hyperalgesia).

In 2016 more than 11 million people reported misusing prescribed opioids like hydrocodone, oxycodone and codeine, many of them by taking a friend's or relative’s pills to relieve pain. Heroin and now fentanyl use has soared in recent years as opioid overprescribing was reduced. 

While in the last few years, public attention has shifted from the opioid epidemic to the Covid pandemic, opioid-related mortality has continued to increase at a significant rate. An estimated 2.7 million people report suffering from an opioid use disorder, with more than 180 people dying every day from an overdose. From 2019 to 2020, opioid overdose deaths in the United States increased by almost 30% to the highest numbers ever recorded.

Opioid And Pain Management Resources

When it comes to surgery and opioids, our surgeons and anesthesiologists are experts in employing a variety of pain-management treatments. Learn more about how HSS approaches and prioritizes pain management, best practices for safety and care and much more:

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