Doing this annotated bibliography has acted as a good experience. My approach in selecting the references has been based on a systematic review of articles less than five years old, using keywords such as opioid crisis, and written in English. I have been looking for solutions to the increasing numbers of opioid addictions and deaths. The sources were great as they supplied solutions to my questions on the opioid pandemic. The search strategies used are resourceful, and I have no plans to change them.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d). Understanding the epidemic. 2021, Web.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) researched to investigate the opioid epidemic. According to the report, the number of overdose deaths decreased from 2017 to 2018. However, this rate was still higher in 2018 than in 1999. A portion of 70% of the total deaths in 2018 involved an opioid. Opioid overdose deaths have manifested in three waves from 1999-2018, with a total of 450,00 deaths. The organization postulates the first wave to have been triggered by an increase in the prescription of opioids in the 1990s, leading to an overdose. The second wave began in 2010 when a rapid increase was associated with a heroin overdose. The third wave started in 2018 when a significant increase in opioid overdose involved fentanyl. The organization uses graphs to display the information with facts based on reports critically. Additionally, they give ways of combating the opioid overdose epidemic. This resource will be significant in my study as it focuses on my topic by critiquing how the epidemic has soared over the years.
Cobin, S., Raeford, B., Derric, V., John, M., & Banu, R. (2017). The US opioid crisis: Current federal and state legal issues. Anesthesia and Analgesia, 25(105), 1675–1681. Web.
Corbin, Raeford, Derric, John, and Banu investigate the current federal and state issues in the United States opioid crisis. The authors note that the United States is amid 33,000 deaths annually resulting from illegal or prescribed opioids. At least half of these deaths result from prescribed opioids. The research lays out the guidelines put by the CDC on the use of options for chronic pain. They also give other federal agencies subject to these regulations, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the Department of Justice (DoJ). Accordingly, these federal agencies perform distinct roles to help solve the United States opioid crisis. While the DEA is authorized to implement prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), FDA has a latitude magnitude of approving safer opioid medications. This study focuses on the different roles of federal and local authorities to help curb deaths resulting from opioids. The researchers critically distinct tasks for these agencies in reducing opioid deaths. This resource will be significant in my research as it analyzes the current federal and states legal issues surrounding the United States opioid crisis.
Graeme, D., W. (2017). The opioid epidemic of America: What you need to know about the opiate and opioid crisis and how we can heal from it. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Dr. Graeme analyses the opioid epidemic in the United States and its facts in a book. The author gives details on the occurrence of deaths resulting from opioids, which occur every 16 minutes. He alludes that people are bubbling up with daily addictions to opioids, among other fatalities. The impacts of opioid addiction are noted as being hard to tell. To understand the pandemic, Dr. Graeme emphasizes the genesis of opioid addictions where it has reached, and how the pandemic can be stopped. The book is well arranged, giving all the details on why it has been hard to control the opioid crisis and restructure the current policies to find a sustainable solution. It shows how one doctor’s use led to over-prescription. This resource is vital for my topic as it reflects on the facts of addiction, the pill that changed the epidemic, signs to look for, treatment, and prevention of opioid addictions.
King, S. A. (2018). The opioid epidemic: Who is to blame? Psychiatric Times, 35(6).
In this psychiatric time journal, Steven King reports on the opioid epidemic and who is to blame. The author states that while most people place their blame for the opioid pandemic on illicit drug dealers and pharmaceutical companies, their share of responsibility is overstated. King presents data from SAMHSA that indicate doctors as key players in the opioid supply chain. A proportion of 50% of non-medical users gets it from families and friends, while 25% of them get it from a doctor’s prescription. Most patients get their prescriptions from one doctor. King’s article is influential as it uses facts to lay data on the people to be blamed for the opioid crisis. This article will be significant in my research as it indicates who should be accused of the opioid crisis.
Marks, J. H. (2020). Lessons from corporate influence in the opioid epidemic: Toward a norm of separation. Bioethical Inquiry, 17, 173–189. Web.
In this bioethical inquiry, Marks seeks insights from corporate influence in the opioid pandemic. The author posits that the opioid pandemic has been exacerbated by webs of influence created by pharmaceutical companies. Marks acknowledges that the webs include patient advocacy groups, teaching hospitals, medical professional societies, research centers, legislators, and policymakers. Opioid companies make these web strategies to expand the opioid market for patients experiencing chronic pain such as cancer. This study is essential as it gives a detailed approach to corporate influence on the opioid pandemic and how the government and society can counterattack the influence. It will be a significant study for my topic as I seek to know how this organizational web influences the opioid pandemic.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d). Opioid overdose crisis. 2021, Web.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse investigates the opioid overdose crisis and how it happened. The reports indicate that in 2019, approximately 50,000 people in the United States succumbed to death caused by an opioid overdose. Opioid misuse and addiction have been attributed to prescriptions as pain relievers, synthetic opioids, and heroin. CDC has also estimated that the prescription of opioids has caused an economic burden in the United States, approximated at $78.5 billion each year. This article tracks how the opioid crisis emerged in the 1990s and how it has led to addiction. The report uses clear graphs to explain how the pandemic has grown over the years. It is a significant resource for my topic as it touches on the crisis of opioids overdose and how it has spread over the years.