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Review
. 2008 Oct;16(5):435-41.
doi: 10.1037/a0013637.

Addiction to prescription opioids: characteristics of the emerging epidemic and treatment with buprenorphine

John Mendelson  1 , Keith Flower, Mark J Pletcher, Gantt P Galloway
Affiliations
Review

Addiction to prescription opioids: characteristics of the emerging epidemic and treatment with buprenorphine

John Mendelson et al. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2008 Oct.

Abstract

Dependence on and abuse of prescription opioid drugs is now a major health problem, with initiation of prescription opioid abuse exceeding cocaine in young people. Coincident with the emergence of abuse and dependence on prescription opioids, there has been an increased emphasis on the treatment of pain. Pain is now the "5th vital sign" and physicians face disciplinary action for failure to adequately relieve pain. Thus, physicians are whipsawed between the imperative to treat pain with opioids and the fear of producing addiction in some patients. In this article, the authors characterize the emerging epidemic of prescription opioid abuse, discuss the utility of buprenorphine in the treatment of addiction to prescription opioids, and present illustrative case histories of successful treatment with buprenorphine.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Rates of first use of select drugs in US adults age 18–25 (per 1,000 person-years of exposure): 1990–2003. (Source: 2002–2004 NSDUH, SAMHSA)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Dependence on or abuse of specific illicit drugs in the past year in persons age 12 or older. (Adapted from 2006 NSDUH. SAMHSA)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentages of reported method of obtaining prescription opioids for most recent nonmedical use in past year among persons age 18–25. (Adapted from 2005 NSDUH, SAMHSA)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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