© GRAPHIC NEWS
© GRAPHIC NEWS
© GRAPHIC NEWS
HEALTH
U.S. painkiller addiction
October 12, 2016 - As sales of prescription opioid painkillers have surged -- from $3.8 billion in 2000 to $9.6bn in 2015 -- so has the number of drug-related deaths. More than four out of ten overdose deaths involve synthetic opioids.
Opioids are medications that relieve pain. They reduce the intensity of pain signals reaching the brain and affect those brain areas controlling emotion, which diminishes the effects of a painful stimulus. Medications that fall within this class include hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, and fentanyl.
Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine, and 50 times stronger than heroin. Illegal fentanyl is a driving force behind the drug epidemic -- which claimed 47,000 deaths in 2014 -- according to the most recent estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.