Will a Black Box Warning for Painkillers Improve Oklahoma's Addiction Problems?

In March 2016, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would add a Black Box Warning to the most widely used prescription painkillers. This the strongest warning used by the FDA to warn practitioners and patients of risk and consists of a bold face warning in the prescribing information, surrounded by a black box. But will this warning really make a difference?

Oklahoma has had one of the highest rates of prescription drug abuse in the country for the past several years. Prescription drug abuse was a major contributor to Oklahoma placing sixth in the nation for drug overdose deaths. In 2014, 864 Oklahomans died of drug overdoses, and 72% of these deaths were related to prescription drug abuse.

Pill bottles

Like in the rest of the country, too-liberal prescribing practices addicted even many patients who used their medications properly and also added millions of pills to our communities. In many states in the South and the Midwest, about the same number or more prescriptions for painkillers are dispensed as there are residents. Oklahoma is among them.

Who Looks at a Black Box Warning?

This warning appears on the insert for a prescription, the sheet of paper that accompanies the pill bottle. Doctors prescribe drugs with black box warnings. Pharmacists fill prescriptions of those drugs.  If anyone is to pay attention to the warning, it’s going to be the patient. It’s hard to see how a black box warning will save anyone from either abusing these drugs or becoming addicted to them. People trust their doctors and generally just take their medications as directed.

It’s obvious that this warning by itself will not save many Oklahoma lives from painkiller overdoses. A recent action of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish new prescribing guidelines for these drugs is liable to make a greater improvement as the guidelines are adopted by health practitioners. But these changes by themselves are not nearly enough. What is needed is change at every level of our country and communities.

So What Changes Will Help?

Changes are beginning to make their way through the federal and state governments that can begin to reduce the harm Americans are suffering. President Obama has pledged funds to improve access to drug rehabilitation services specifically to help people suffering from prescription drug or heroin addictions. In the meantime, there are many more actions that can help.

  • Parents have an important role in this fight. They should make it very clear to their children that drug use of any kind is unacceptable and that underage alcohol use is also unacceptable. Any drugs and alcohol in the home should be kept locked up. It might not be their child who takes them but could be a visitor to the home or even a repairman.
  • Parents can also help by knowing their children’s friends and by encouraging their children to stay involved in productive activities. If drug use does become a problem, the signs of change will be obvious. Children are likely to start hanging out with new friends who also use drugs and they will drop or change their interests, giving parents clear signs so they can intervene.
Barbecue at beach
  • Families can help support sobriety by planning alcohol-free parties, barbecues and holiday events. Businesses and entire communities can set wonderful examples for children and adults alike by emphasizing fun over alcohol consumption at meetings, sporting events and fairs.

Once Addiction Becomes a Problem, Effective Rehab is Needed

When addiction is present, the best solution is immediate and effective rehabilitation. It’s vital to realize that relapse does not have to be part of a person’s recovery from addiction, despite what you may be told at some rehab centers. At Narconon Arrowhead, we have found that if you address the kinds of damage addiction does to a person, if you help him (or her) recover his self-respect and integrity and find relief from guilt, he can create a lasting, sober life for himself. This has been happening every day for fifteen years at Narconon Arrowhead in Canadian, Oklahoma.

Learn more about this innovative and drug-free program today. Find out how our sauna-based detoxification step can return clearer thinking and a brighter outlook to each person, and how this prepares them to learn the life skills they are going to need in their sober futures. We look forward to talking with you and helping you put addiction problems behind you for good. Call 1-800-468-6933 today.


https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/02/president-obama-proposes-11-billion-new-funding-address-prescription

http://www.koco.com/news/OBN-Prescription-drugs-killing-more-Oklahomans-than-ever-before/32411422

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-states-with-the-worst-prescription-painkiller-problem/

http://okpolicy.org/prescription-drug-addiction-presents-challenges-oklahoma/

AUTHOR
KH

Karen Hadley

For more than a decade, Karen has been researching and writing about drug trafficking, drug abuse, addiction and recovery. She has also studied and written about policy issues related to drug treatment.

NARCONON ARROWHEAD

DRUG EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION