Draconian opioid policies harming many Americans

In his Jan. 7 commentary embracing Clark County’s plan to go after drug makers for the opioid crisis, Tom Letizia is misinformed.

Contrary to what Mr. Letizia writes, the vast majority started their addiction from illegally obtained prescription opioids. This is a common misconception perpetuated in order in inflate an anti-opioid agenda. There are many studies showing that fewer than 10 percent of patients on legally prescribed opioid medications become addicted and proceed to heroin. Some studies state less than 1 percent.

Mr. Letizia also writes that 175 people die every day in America from a prescription opioid or heroin overdose. This is not true. That is the total for all drug deaths. About two-thirds of overdose deaths are opiate related — that’s 115 per day or 42,000 per year. Still far too many, but about half of those are due to heroin or heroin/fentanyl overdose, not prescription opioids.

These incorrect assertions matter because so much media and political attention and insurance industry bias against opioid prescriptions has resulted in draconian policy.

The overprescribing of opioid pain medications was indeed causing a large national problem of overdosing or addiction. But opioid prescriptions have been declining since 2011, while heroin or heroin/fentanyl overdoses have skyrocketed.

Pain patients who are not addicted and obviously benefit from monitored opioid prescriptions are being involuntarily tapered downward or off their beneficial pain medications. They are suffering inhumanely, and some are committing suicide because they can no longer tolerate the pain after tapering. This is the result of misinformation being spewed about by individuals who are not aware of valid scientific evidence.

The lives of patients with long-term pain successfully treated with monitored opioid prescriptions are being destroyed.