Top Doc Wants Swift End to Opioid Crisis

Physicians, pharmacists, and many others in the health care industry are sharing an historic request from the U.S. Surgeon General, in an effort to #TurnTheTide on the opioid crisis:

“I am asking for your help to solve an urgent health crisis facing America: the opioid epidemic,” said Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, in a personal letter to more than 2.3 million health care practitioners and public health leaders.

Related: Heroin’s Harrowing Reality

Murthy is asking those who are willing to step up to the plate on three very clear initiatives — chief among them, to educate themselves on treating pain safely and effectively. The pledge also asks physicians to screen patients for opioid use disorder and provide or connect them with evidence-based treatment. Perhaps the most important is to talk about and treat addiction as a chronic illness, not a moral failing.

Murthy is the first top doctor to ever call on physicians to sign a personal pledge. It is an initiative the national health officials are calling #TurnTheTide.

“It is important to recognize we arrived at this place on a path paved with good intentions. Nearly two decades ago, we were encouraged to be more aggressive about treating pain, often without enough training and support to do so safely. This coincided with heavy marketing of opioids to doctors. Many of us were even taught — incorrectly — that opioids are not addictive when prescribed for legitimate pain,” the letter states.

The results, Murthy added, have been devastating.

“Since 1999, opioid overdose deaths have quadrupled and opioid prescriptions have increased markedly — almost enough for every adult in America to have a bottle of pills. Yet the amount of pain reported by Americans has not changed.”

Nearly two million people in America have a prescription opioid use disorder, according to Murthy — contributing to increased heroin use and the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C.

“Years from now, I want us to look back and know that, in the face of a crisis that threatened our nation, it was our profession that stepped up and led the way. I know we can succeed because health care is more than an occupation to us. It is a calling rooted in empathy, science, and service to humanity. These values unite us. They remain our greatest strength,” Murthy said.

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