A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that visits to the emergency room for prescription drug abuse rose sharply in the last few years. Trips to the emergency room involving oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone jumped 111 percent from 2004 to 2008 (from an estimated 145,000 to 306,000). Emergency room visits due to abuse of sedatives rose 89 percent during the same period (from 144,000 to about 272,000).
By 2008, visits to the emergency room for all drug abuse was estimated at 2 million across the country. Of those, visits for prescription drug abuse were equal in numbers, at 1 million estimated emergency room visits, to those linked to illegal drugs.
The fact that these are not illegal drugs makes the problem of abuse and addiction more difficult to identify and treat. Physicians must be cognizant of the fact that their responsibility is to the health of the patient, not the patient’s wishes.
