What to Do If Your Doctor Prescribes You Opioids

nAmerican’s odds of dying from an opioid overdose are now greater than his or her odds of dying in a car accident — and far greater than dying from a gun-related injury. That’s according to <a href="https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/all-injuries/preventable-death-overview/odds-of-dying/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">a 2019 report</a> from the National Safety Council (NSC), a nonprofit that tracks rates of injury and death due to different causes. Opioid overdose is now the most common cause of accidental death in the U.S., according to the council. While doctors today are prescribing opioid painkillers less often than they did in 2012, which is the year opioid prescriptions peaked, approximately 59 opioid prescriptions are written for every 100 Americans, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/maps/rxrate-maps.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">according to</a> the most recent CDC data. At the same time, opioid-related deaths are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/opioids/fentanyl.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">more common than ever before</a> — fueled largely by the rise of fentanyl, which is a synthetic opioid that is up to 100-times more potent than morphine, and is often bought and used illicitly. <a href="https://elemental.medium.com/what-to-do-if-your-doctor-prescribes-you-opioids-dca16a0d5a87">Website</a>