With opioid-related deaths continuing to rise, many entities are doing their part to educate both prescribers and patients on the potential dangers of using prescription painkillers for chronic pain. Government officials, presidential candidates and other advocacy groups have publicly made it known that there’s a problem -- and something needs to be done to tackle growing concerns.
According to the Centers for Diease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 16,235 deaths involving prescription opioids in 2013, an increase of 1% from 2012. Total drug overdose deaths in 2013 hit 43,982, up 6% from 2012.
To help curb opioid overdose, misuse and abuse in the United States, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) will be launching a new initiative during National Chiropractic Health Month (NCHM), which is in October. This year’s theme has a hashtag paired with it: #PainFreeNation.
The ACA's nationwide campaign aims to further educate the public on "conservative forms" of care for both acute and chronic pain. According to the organization, patients shouldn’t initially go for "higher risk" options -- such as prescription painkillers.
"With increasing volumes of research highlighting the risks of overuse and abuse of pain medications, the ACA strongly urges patients and healthcare providers to first exhaust non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical treatments for pain management and health improvement strategies before moving on to other options," ACA President Anthony Hamm said in an interview.
Alternatives to ingesting opioids for pain management include acupuncture, yoga, chiropractic, psychotherapy and physical therapy.
"Many active self-care and complementary and integrative strategies, which may be accessed through a chiropractic physician, provide a solution for chronic pain sufferers," Hamm said. "These interventions can lead to decreased pain levels and increased physical function."
The association will also provide "public awareness resources and guidance to doctors of chiropractic to help them create a local NCHM campaign and raise community awareness of the benefits of chiropractic services -- and their own practices," he said.
Leveraging the power of sharing, the ACA plans to spread the word of its campaign through various social media channels, Hamm said.
"The ACA hopes that the dissemination of information about the painkiller epidemic and chiropractic’s rightful place as part of the solution will reach a significant number of people," he said. "Social media will also make it easy for DCs to share simple ways for enhancing strength and avoiding pain and injury in everyday life with their social media followers."
There will even be a Twitter chat kickoff on September 29 to "heighten awareness of the drug-free approach chiropractic offers to those suffering from pain," Hamm noted. The ACA is encouraging doctors of chiropractic (DCs) to participate in the discussion.
Some pain management advocacy groups agree with the ACA's new campaign, supportive of the fact that the association is tackling two public health crises at once: prescription drug abuse and chronic pain.
"We have been saying for some time that providing comprehensive, integrative, pain care that involves non-medication treatments along with appropriate medication treatments should help prevent prescription drug abuse, addiction, and overdose, while simultaneously improving care for people with pain," said Bob Twillman, executive director of the American Academy of Pain Management. "Promoting this integrative model of pain care is the Academy's mission, and we are proud that chiropractors constitute one of the largest groups within our membership. The conservative approach described by the ACA works very well for many people with chronic pain, and when it's not all the patient needs, chiropractors don't hesitate to involve other clinicians who can provide additional forms of treatment."
He continued: "We think that is a prudent way to proceed, and we support the ACA's campaign."
The ACA isn’t alone in its efforts to inform the general public of the country’s growing opioid problem. President Obama’s 2016 drug control priorities include reducing prescription drug and heroin abuse by allocating additional funding to states with prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), expanding and improving treatment for addicts, and spearheading efforts to make naloxone more readily available to first responders.
The CDC back in April launched a social media initiative welcoming the stories of those affected by prescription painkiller addiction. Its campaign, titled "When the Prescription Becomes the Problem," was designed to raise awareness of prescription painkiller abuse and overdose.
More recently, a group of 27 medical organizations announced a new task force designed to tackle narcotic abuse. With the American Medical Association (AMA) at the helm, the group is urging physicians to both register and use state-based prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) before prescribing painkillers to patients. Another one of the task force’s initiatives is educating prescribers on evidence-based prescribing.
"The increased usage of opioids has led to unanticipated consequences such as a tolerance among some patients to the drug hydrocodone and negative treatment outcomes for conditions such as work-related musculoskeletal disorders, joint replacements and spine surgery," Hamm said. "Beyond the risks of overuse and addiction, prescription drugs that numb pain may convince a patient that a musculoskeletal condition is less severe than it is, or that it has healed."
He added: "That misunderstanding can lead to over-exertion and a delay in the healing process or even to a permanent painful condition."
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