Review of the Opioid Overdose Epidemic : How We Got Here
1.0 CE- Nurses can help with education, advocacy, and treatment


Time & Location
Mar 09, 2023, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PST
Webinar
About the Event
The current state of the epidemic
Changing views of pain treatment led to more use of opioid analgesics
Pressure mounted on doctors to treat any and all pain effectively
Faulty research seemed to show low addiction potential for opioids for patients in pain
Opioids were used more and more to treat pain
Purdue Pharmaceutical Co. saw an opportunity: invented Oxycontin
Purdue representatives aggressively marked Oxycontin to physicians
Faulty data used to deny addiction potential
Oxycontin use mushroomed in the US
Pain treatment was misunderstood as simply requiring opioid analgesics
Big supply of pills in American drug cabinets drive addictions
Drug cartels saw an opportunity as addicted patients sought illicit drugs
First heroin, then fentanyl analogs introduced to big cities
How the opioid overdose epidemic rapidly spread
Learning Objectives
Describe the current status of the opioid overdose epidemic in the United States
Discuss factors that led to the current opioid overdose epidemic.
Explain how nurses can help combat the epidemic.