nice 08.03.17 The opioid abuse epidemic claims the lives of thousands of Americans each year. Here are five facts about opioid abuse, along with what we're doing about each one. 1. The U.S. is the world s top consumer of prescription opioids. Although the U.S. represents just five percent of the world s population, we use 99 percent of the world s hydrocodone (also known as Vicodin) and 80 percent of its oxycodone (also known as Percocet or Oxycontin). While acknowledging that there are many patients in real need of pain medication, CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo has stated , We believe it is time to institute limits on the quantity of opioids dispensed to patients who are receiving an opioid for the first time and to ensure that the prescription fits the medical condition. Learn more. 2. About two thirds of teens who say they abuse prescription drugs get them from family members, friends and acquaintances. 1 To help prevent prescription drugs from falling into the wrong hands, we created the Medication Disposal for Safer Communities program. Through this program, police departments can apply to receive a drug collection unit to help their communities safely discard unwanted medications, including controlled substances. Since 2014, we have donated a total of 800 drug collection units to police departments in 43 states, and has collected more than 100 metric tons of prescription drugs. Learn more. 3. In 2015, more than 50,000 people in the U.S. died from drug overdoses. 2 More than 60 percent of cases involved an opioid. 3 Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, is a lifesaving drug that blocks opioid receptor sites to reverse the effects of an overdose, offering people a second chance to get the help they need. CVS Pharmacy now dispenses naloxone to patients without an individual prescription in 43 states. Learn more. 4. CVS Health pharmacists have educated nearly 300,000 students about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. Peer pressure, ease of access to prescription medications and a general lack of knowledge about the risks of opioid use can make for a deadly combination. Our Pharmacists Teach program provides teens with the facts about prescription drug abuse. Our pharmacists visit high school health classes on a volunteer basis, where they give a powerful presentation that includes stories of real youths whose lives were changed forever by their choice to abuse prescription painkillers. Learn more. 5. Increasing access to naloxone saves lives. Expanding access to naloxone gives more people a chance to get the help they need: according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, five states that have adopted Naloxone Access Laws have seen a nine to 11 percent reduction in opioid-related deaths. Over the past two years, CVS Health has worked to expand access to naloxone without individual prescriptions in 43 states. Learn more. For more information about our efforts in the fight against opioid abuse, visit our Prescription Drug Abuse information center. And to stay informed about the most talked-about topics in health care, register for content alerts and our bi-weekly health care newsletter . This article was originally published on August 3, 2017, and was updated to reflect current data on September 21, 2017. 1 Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, 2016 2 https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html 3 https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html Naloxone availability across the United States 4 6 See States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin CVS Pharmacy patients in 46 states now have access to the opioid overdose-reversal drug, naloxone. Follow our commitment to drug abuse prevention as we increase access to the life-saving opioid overdose reversal drug. Related Articles CVS Health and POLITICO Examine the Opioid Crisis A quick and easy-to-understand explanation of one of the most pressing challenges in public health: the opioid epidemic. Tackling the Nation s Opioid Crisis: POLITICO Pro Health Care Briefing Experts weigh in with personal experiences and multifaceted solutions to addressing the opioid crisis in America. A State of Emergency: Integrative Approaches to Addiction and the Opioid Epidemic Moriarty discusses the power of partnerships in tackling the opioid epidemic. Related Press Releases 10.26.17 CVS Health Recognizes President s Declaration of Public Health Emergency to Help End Opioid Epidemic 09.21.17 CVS Health Fighting National Opioid Abuse Epidemic With Enterprise Initiatives 09.12.17 CVS Health Makes Overdose-Reversal Drug Available Without Individual Prescription at CVS Pharmacy Locations in Kansas 07.27.17 CVS Health Makes Overdose-Reversal Drug Available Without Individual Prescription at CVS Pharmacy Locations in South Dakota 06.07.17 CVS Pharmacy Now Using Time Delay Safes in Ohio for Controlled Substances to Combat Opioid Epidemic, Reduce Robbery Incidents 05.23.17 Attorney General Brnovich, Rep. Carter Join CVS Health to Announce Availability of Naloxone at All CVS Pharmacy Locations in Arizona to enclose
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