Veterans and the Opioid Epidemic
<p>The United States is in the midst of an unprecedented drug epidemic. Since 2000, overdoses from opioids in the United States have tripled. Last year alone there were over 64,000 opioid related drug overdoses. In fact, opioids kill more people in the United States than breast cancer.<a href="https://medium.com/@mikeyucuis/veterans-and-the-opioid-epidemic-19ad7e3e29b2#_ftn1" rel="noopener ugc nofollow">[1]</a> A small, but significant portion of those deaths were veterans under the care of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA). After nearly eighteen years of war in Afghanistan, Iraq, and countless unnamed Overseas Contingency Operations, over 60% of veterans report suffering from chronic pain that requires some form of medication or treatment. For much of that time, invariably, opioids were the prescribed drug of choice.<a href="https://medium.com/@mikeyucuis/veterans-and-the-opioid-epidemic-19ad7e3e29b2#_ftn2" rel="noopener ugc nofollow">[2]</a> Unfortunately, veterans represent one of the most vulnerable communities in America, reporting higher rates of chronic pain, post-traumatic stress, depression, chronic homelessness, and suicide. Since America’s veterans are at the nexus between the opioid epidemic and overdoses, any improvements or fixes implemented within the veterans health system have immediate wider applications for the rest of America.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/@mikeyucuis/veterans-and-the-opioid-epidemic-19ad7e3e29b2"><strong>Visit Now</strong></a></p>