Surgeon General issues rare advisory on opioid abuse

Health care providers and authorities across the country have been struggling to help the thousands of people suffering from opioid addiction.

Thursday, there is a new recommendation from the top doctor in the U.S. issuing a rare advisory on a drug that helps combat overdoses.

Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams stated, “To stop the opioid epidemic, we must stop the bleeding.”

The surgeon general of the United States issued a rare public advisory Thursday, in the latest effort to combat the opioid crisis.

As the nation’s top doctor, Jerome Adams, is calling for wider use of the overdose-reversing drug Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan.

This advisory applies to:

  • Patients taking opioids for pain
  • Individuals misusing prescription drugs
  • People using illicit opioids like fentanyl or heroin
  • Health care practitioners
  • Family and friends of possible abusers
  • Others who come into contact with people at risk for opioid overdose

Dr. Jerome Adams, Surgeon General said, “If you or someone you know is at risk for an overdose, carry and know how to use Naloxone. An easy to use, lifesaving medication that can reverse the effects of an overdose.”

Last week, the CDC released a report that revealed overdose fatalities are on the rise, with more than 63,000 deaths in 2016 alone. About two thirds of them involved prescription or illicit opioid drug use.

Adams said, “An estimated 2.1 million people in the U.S. struggle with an opioid use disorder. There is a person dying every 12.5 minutes and more than half other those are dying at home.”

Also this week, the head of the Food and Drug Administration says he wants all doctors to undergo mandatory training on prescribing opioids to patients.

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