At the start of the 20th century heroin was produced by pharmaceutical companies and falsely marketed as a safer and less addictive pain killer than morphine. We all know what a benefit to the community that has been!!!
Since 1999 there has been a four fold increase in prescriptions another pain-killing medication that has again been falsely marketed as a safer and less addictive pain killer. This has resulted in a four fold increase in the number of overdose deaths from this “modern version of heroin”.
This new freely prescribed villain are the latest range of opioid drugs.You may have heard of some of the brand names such as Endone, Oxycodone, Codeine and Fentanyl. In 2013, there were over 250 million opioid prescriptions in the USA which equates to nearly a prescription for every person n the country! Between 1999 and 2015 and estimated 183 000 people have died from opioid overdoses and now worldwide an estimated 36 million people regularly abuse opioids.
Despite these shocking statistics I am concerned by the alarming increase in the number of opioid prescriptions being handed out….and in my experience the biggest culprit at the moment is hospital emergency departments!
There is an estimated 36 million people addicted to opioid pain killers
There has been NO studies that show that these drugs even work long term. In fact, the Centre for Disease Control in the US admits that opioid use is less effective and causes more harm than non-drug methods. One of these non-drug methods is chiropractic care!
A review of health insurance records of patients ( 70 274 member months) over a 7 year period measured any differences if people in pain sought treatment from a chiropractor instead of a medical doctor for the same problems. They found that if you saw a chiropractor you were:
– 60.2% less likely to be admitted to hospital
- 59% less time in hospital
- 62% less need of outpatient surgery
- 85% less pharmaceutical ( drug) costs!!!!!!
And understand that this is compared to seeing a medical doctor for the exact same problems.
There is less chance of hospitalisations, less surgery and less drugs and less side-effects if you see a chiropractor rather than seeing your medical doctor … the choice is yours.