And as someone who RESPONSIBLY takes their opioid medication as prescribed (by the book, to the letter) I resent almost this entire presentation. There is not ONE word uttered about the patient's perspective. It's all "about" the patient. Some of the slides are almost condescending in tone and I find that highly offensive. It's almost as if you and the medical community cannot fathom that anyone taking high doses of opioids could ever be high-functioning, let alone responsible. It's insulting and I am tired of hearing how I am an "addict". I am not; my body is dependent on the medication that I take. It is not much different than a diabetic is dependent on insulin. Would I die if I quit taking my medications, no but I sure would want to. My medication keeps me functioning at a semi-normal level, where I am able to walk somewhat normally and go about daily activities. My disease and pain keeps me from working but my medications help me maintain a certain quality of life I would not have otherwise. So until you have walked a mile in my shoes and my pain...stop trying to take away my only form of relief; because believe me, I've tried just about everything else.
From 1999 to 2016, more than 200,000 people died in the U.S. from overdoses related to prescription opioids. Overdose deaths involving prescription opioids were five times higher in 2016 than 1999. The figures are preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council, which says it currently estimates that last year, "38,300 people were killed on U.S. roads, and 4.4 million were seriously injured, meaning 2015 likely was the deadliest driving year since 2008." So should we start taking people's licenses away? Sure, there is a problem but LYING about the statistics isn't going to get you anywhere. If you take the data above and average the 17 years the 200,000 lives were lost to opiate overdoses, that would be 11,765 lives a year and in 2015, there were 38,300 people killed in motor vehicle accidents...3 times as many as opiate overdose deaths! Oh, here are some sites where I got my information: www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/18/467230965/2015-traffic-fatalities-rose-by-largest-percent-in-50-years-safety-group-says www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/overdose.html
