Previous reports say that the existence of non-authorized online pharmacies has led to the easy access and wide distribution of prescription medicines and its abuse. However, a recent study stresses that doctors can do more to curb the prescription drug abuse trend.
According to a feature on Medical News Today, only 8 percent of patients on opioid pain medication have been screened by their doctor and only 49.8 percent see their prescribing doctor regularly. These findings are disturbing, especially with the alarming rise of prescription drug abuse in the US. The 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health revealed that over 7 million Americans admit to recent abuse of prescription medications.
This is tougher to address than one would initially think. While there is a need to control the distribution of prescription drugs to avoid its abuse, there is also a huge need for painkillers and other prescription drugs to be made readily available to those who suffer from chronic pain and other disorders.
The Center for Lawful Access and Abuse Deterrence calls on doctors and health care professionals to take more steps for the protection of their patients and for the prevention of prescription drug abuse. CLAAD is a national not-for-profit alliance of families, medical professionals, law enforcement, and drug abuse prevention advocates,
The study was done by researchers at Yeshiva University in New York City and was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
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