In light of new data showing that 100,000+ Americans died of drug overdose in a 1-year period, and quotes in the piece about teens being prescribed opioids for wisdom teeth, let me share some thoughts...
The vast majority of teens prescribed an opioid *will not* develop addiction. Our work has shown it's fewer than 1 in 300 who will have a problem. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33739476/
Similar work by @kaopingchua showed the risk of an overdose while on a prescribed opioid is low (~1 in 11,000). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31841589/
In both these studies, the risk of teens receiving opioids was LOW. At the population level, we should still be thoughtful about prescribing opioids to teens, but if they have severe acute pain, opioids are a mainstay in medical practice and we should use them.
Plus, we know how to identify the teens that are likely to have a problem with opioids. In our study, youth who had other substance use problems (nicotine, alcohol, cannabis) were 20+ times more likely to have a problem with an opioid. We can screen and treat this stuff.
So, let's not blame our addiction crisis on teens being prescribed opioids. The real reason we have a crisis? Kids growing up with trauma, untreated mental health problems, poverty, homelessness, food insecurity -- and our lack of will as a society to take this stuff on.
Here's the piece: nytimes.com/2021/11/17/hea…
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