The Los Angeles metropolitan area has seen a steady increase in the number of emergency room visits related to the abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs from 2005 to 2009, according to a recent report issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Prescription drug abuse has been exploding in Los Angeles and nationwide, to the point where opioid painkillers such as Vicodin, codeine and Oxycontin now trail only marijuana in the prevalence of abuse throughout the country. Drug overdose is the third most common cause of injury death and premature death in LA County, a statistic which is closely linked with the fact that there have been more than 14 million painkiller prescriptions issued in the area over the past five years. The 2011 Los Angeles County Health Survey found that 5.2 percent of LA County adults admit to abusing prescription drugs, which amounts to more than 350,000 people. The year 2009 alone saw more than 650 deaths related to overdose of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, along with 3,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 emergency room visits.
Of the 8,265 drug related deaths reported by the Los Angeles County coroner between 2000 and 2009, 61 percent involved prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Nearly all of these people — 96 percent — tested positive for more than one drug, combining prescription drugs either with other medications or with street drugs.
Out of all of the overdose deaths due to prescription drug abuse, 64 percent were unintentional. The recent trends in LA County reflect a pattern which is playing out nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 12 million Americans engaged in prescription drug abuse in 2010 alone, with 2.4 million adults beginning their abuse in that year. An average of 15,000 people now die on an annual basis as a result of prescription painkiller overdose, while for every person who dies there are 32 taken to the emergency room. Prescription painkillers are now a more common cause of overdose death than heroin and cocaine combined. Perhaps the worst casualties of the current epidemic of painkiller abuse are addicts who are not taken to the ER for overdose, but rather they are born addicted: one baby is now born every minute suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome, a term which describes the tortuous symptoms of opiate withdrawals after the mother abused painkillers during pregnancy.
Solutions to the Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic
The most common prescription painkiller in LA County is hydrocodone (Vicodin), followed by codeine and oxycodone (Oxycontin). This category of drug was the most common in cases of overdose, followed closely by sedatives and then stimulants. All of these drugs are widely prescribed to patients throughout the area, and a large percentage of addicts are either patients of family of patients who quickly became hooked to these powerfully addictive drugs. The LA County Department of Public Health recommends three primary targets for prevention of further emergency room visits and overdose deaths. First, better education and training are necessary, both for doctors and the general public.
The prescription drug abuse epidemic has been fueled in large part by ignorance of the full danger of these drugs, and many people begin using them because they think that they are safer than street drugs. Second, the implementation of prescription drug monitoring programs which track the doctors who write prescriptions and the patients who receive them. This makes it possible to identify doctors who are writing abnormally large numbers of prescriptions, as well as patients who are using “doctor shopping” to get extra prescriptions by visiting multiple doctors. Finally, local law enforcement can assist by administering prescription drug take-back programs with drop-off bins where patients can take unused and expired medication to a secure location and proper disposal.
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