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Since 2009, hospital intensive care units have witnessed a stark increase in opioid-related admissions and deaths, according to new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s (BIDMC) Center for Healthcare Delivery Science. Published online today ahead of print in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society, the study is believed to be the first to quantify the impact of opioid abuse on critical care resources in the United States. The findings reveal that opioid-related demand for acute care services has outstripped the available supply.
Analyzing data from the period between January 1, 2009 and September 31, 2015, the researchers documented a 34 percent increase in overdose-related ICU admissions. The average cost of care per ICU overdose admissions rose by 58 percent, from $58,517 in 2009 to $92,408 in 2015 (in 2015 dollars). Meanwhile opioid deaths in the ICU nearly doubled during that same period. "This study tells us that the opioid epidemic has made people sicker and killed more people, in spite of all the care we can provide in the ICU, including mechanical ventilation, acute dialysis, life support and round-the-clock care," said the study's lead author, Jennifer P. Stevens, MD, associate director of the medical intensive care unit at BIDMC and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
[...] These data not only document the scope of the opioid abuse epidemic, they also reveal its complexity. Stevens and colleagues suggest that any opioid overdose-related admission is a preventable one, and that the team's findings not only represent the need for increased acute care resources, but also for expanded opioid-abuse prevention and treatment.
The article is paywalled but there is an abstract: The Critical Care Crisis of Opioid Overdoses in the United States
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(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday August 14 2017, @06:49PM
I have rarely taken enough to be loopy. I don't see the appeal of it. I can't stand the idea of losing control of my mind, emotions and faculties. That's probably why I don't drink alcohol.
I daily take prescription nsaids stronger than advil. And tylenol. Occasionally opiates.
A couple months ago I was on vacation in Colorado. Tried some edibles while I was there to see if it would help. I thought it provided a bit of relief -- but not much. But the biggest thing was that it is not cost effective at all. At about $10 a dose, that's ridiculous. I'll stick with opiates when those times come when other drugs aren't enough. I can get a whole bottle of opiates for less than $10 -- the cost of a single dose of edibles. And unlike the cannabis, the prescription opiate is like a sledged hammer for pain. Maybe the edibles help others, but I wasn't impressed by either the effectiveness nor the cost.
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.