The frequency of opioid overdose is rapidly increasing.

This can lead to decreased respiratory effort and possibly death. Opioid overdose occurs when a person has excessive unopposed stimulation of the opiate pathway. Experts in pain management believe that the high number of opiate overdoses are not intentional but because patients may have been trying to manage unrelenting pain (CDC, 2016). The rates did plateau from 2011 through 2013 but again spiked from 2013 to 2014.

Thus, for practicing healthcare workers, it is important to be aware of opiate toxicity in patients who are lethargic or unresponsive for no apparent reason ( CDC, 2017).ĭata released by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that from 2001 through 2010, the rate of opiate diversion, prescriptions for opiates, and opiate-related deaths have exponentially increased in the United States. This empirical prescription habit by healthcare workers has also led to an epidemic of an overdose outside the healthcare setting. More notable is that the prescriptions for opiates have dramatically increased over the past 2 decades. Cases of overdose and opiate toxicity are continually reported in all major cities in the United States.

However, in the last 2 decades, many reports have raised concern about the safety of these drugs. Opiates have formally been approved for analgesia for close to 70 years, and for the most part, these drugs have been assumed to be relatively safe. Today, there are many ways to relieve pain, and one of them is with the use of opiates. One very common reason why patients seek medical care is for pain.

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