Citation

Ryan SA. Pediatrics 2018; 141(4): e.2017-4129.

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics, Penn State Health Children's Hospital, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania sryan4@pennstatehealth.psu.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, American Academy of Pediatrics)

DOI

10.1542/peds.2017-4129

PMID

29507164

Abstract

The statistics regarding the opioid crisis in the United States are staggering, have been the focus of the media for more than a decade, and show no signs of improving. In 2016, 2.4 million Americans were estimated to have an opioid use disorder, ranging from the misuse of prescription opioids to the abuse of heroin and other illicit opioids.1 This includes 0.6% of adolescents 12 to 17 years of age and 1.1% of young adults 18 to 25 years of age. In 2015, 50 000 Americans died of overdose, of which 33 000 (63%) were from opioids.2 Despite policies to regulate drug supplies and increase access to treatment, overdose death rates have doubled in the past 10 years and have continued to rise for adults.3

Although the death rate from overdose has plateaued recently for those younger than 18 years and the rate of prescription opioid misuse has dropped significantly among 12th graders over the past 5 years,4 hospitalizations for opioid poisonings are increasing, especially among preschool children and adolescents. Gaither et al5 reported in 2016 that the annual rate of hospitalizations for opioid poisonings almost doubled from 1997 to 2012, with the greatest increases in those 1 to 4 years old and 12 to 17 years old.

To develop and implement effective prevention, mitigation, and intervention policies, we must understand the true costs of this epidemic. Researchers have shown that prescription opioid abusers use health care resources at much higher rates than their nonaddicted peers. Other researchers have documented higher costs across the health care and criminal justice systems ...

Language: en