According to a recent report from the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), prescription drug use and abuse has risen 400% from 1998 to 2008. The data is not yet complete for 2009, but it is sure to reflect another significant increase. TEDS numbers have also revealed that the number of opiate dependent people in the US have jumped from 6.8% to 26.5% during the same time frame. This increase is inevitably due to the increase in prescriptions given out by doctors for these types of medications. The numbers from our own records mirror these findings and I am sure that other treatment centers would come to the same conclusions after checking their past admission numbers.
I believe that the pharmaceutical companies are initially to blame. They have pushed the use of prescription pain killers on doctors and have raked in massive profits off of their use along with other money making avenues like vaccines for bird and swine flu that thousands of people have unnecessarily received in the past few years. At times it seems that the amount of money in the pharmaceutical companies bank accounts is the real motivation for their actions and not necessarily actually helping people.
If you or someone you love has been affected by this increase in prescription drug use and abuse please call us here at Cornerstone of Southern California. We can help you.