Salt Lake City, Utah (PRWEB) March 18, 2014
The risks of prescription medication, while growing in the public consciousness, are still nebulous to many of those in danger. The Center for Disease Control listed prescription drug misuse as one of the greatest dangers to public health in 2014, second only to antibiotic-resistant infectious diseases. Overdose of prescription medications is now one of the leading causes of accidental death in the United States. With prescription medication being so essential to pain management, how can those suffering from chronic pain safeguard themselves from the risks?
The answer is shared responsibility. No one party is wholly responsible for the safety of those using prescription medications for chronic pain management. Doctors must be educated on how best to identify risk factors, which psychotherapeutics to prescribe for which conditions, and be conscious of potential harmful drug interactions. A competent doctor that has been effectively trained on opioid prescription is essential to the success of any chronic pain management regimen.
But the responsibility of safeguarding against the dangers of potentially additive or harmful prescription medication does not rest entirely on the shoulders of physicians. Patients, family members and care givers should also be conscious of the dangers and educated on how best to prevent these powerful medications from causing harm. One resource to help those affected to manage the dangers is the eight opioid safety principles for patients and caregivers, available on YourPainCommunity.com. With essential information, such as the dangers of taking opioids together with alcohol, sleep aids, or anti-anxiety medication, these safety principles are an excellent starting point to help patients and caregivers to know how best to protect themselves from the growing epidemic of prescription medication misuse.
Other advice includes the importance of trusting their physician’s knowledge and experience with regards to dosage and the dangers of misuse – one should never take an opioid pain medication that are not prescribed to them, or adjust one’s own doses. Another key to prescription pain safety is keeping careful track of medications, such as tracking when all medications are taken, keeping them locked in a safe place, and disposing of any unused medications responsibly. These and other principles for safety are an important part of any management regimen. For more information about how shared responsibility between physicians, patients and caregivers can help stem the growing epidemic of prescription medication abuse, see http://www.yourpaincommunity.com/.