The cost and magnitude of pain in America is unbelievable. One third of the US, or 116 million people, experience some sort of chronic pain according to an Institute of Medicine 2011 survey. Chronic pain lasts for over 90 days, while acute pain is under 6 weeks and subacute is 6 to 12 weeks.
The cost of pain management center in NJ is under the budget of the people. There is no requirement to consume drugs for the reduction in chronic pain. The choosing of the correct measures is through the skills and intelligence of people.
The breakdown from the survey showed that 28% of this pain was in the low back, and 20% was in the knees. Headaches and migraines comprised 16% with neck pain at 15%. The last 20% was distributed fairly evenly between shoulder, finger, and hip pain.
Vicodin is the most commonly prescribed drug in the US, and it is a narcotic. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy 2011, prescriptions rose 50% from 2000 to 2009, while the doses prescribed rose 400% from 1997 to 2007. Amazingly, 20% of doctor visits in the US involve an opioid prescription, with 4 million Americans a year being prescribed a long acting opioid such as Oxycontin ER or Morphine ER.
From 2005 to 2010, emergency room visits from prescription drug OD’s rose 500%, with deaths rising from 3000 in 1997 to over 20,000 today.
Currently, opioid pain medication abuse is the 2nd leading cause of accidental death behind car crashes in the US.
At this point, 38 states have prescription registry systems in the US. This allows doctors to monitor patients and see if other doctors are prescribing narcotics. “Doctor shopping” may allow patients to receive narcotics from multiple sources, which is great for them if they are selling the medications or trading them to support an illicit drug habit.
A national registry system was passed by Congress and signed by President George Bush into law in 2005. Unfortunately, budgetary issues have prevented full implementation of the system due to lack of funding.
Other methods doctors have for monitoring patients include urine and oral drug screening, which can be very accurate and catch patient treatment transgressions. Patients may skip their narcotic prescriptions for days and then take it just prior to their appointment, but there are intricacies to the test results which can catch their “secret plan.”
Chronic pain costs between $550 billion to $635 billion in medical bills and lost productivity each year. Does the term “epidemic” apply? Absolutely it does.
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