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National Safety Council survey says Americans don’t know painkillers are dangerous
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A new online survey conducted by the National Safety Council indicates that many Americans don’t know their painkillers contain dangerous drugs called opioids.
The survey also indicates that many don’t know it is a felony to share them and that they’re unconcerned about addiction — even though “most have reason to worry.”
The survey, released during a news briefing webinar last week, said 29 percent of respondents reported taking opioid painkillers in the past three years.
But when respondents were told the names of some of the common opioid painkillers — codeine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydrocodone and acetaminophen (Vicodin), meperidine (Demerol), methadone, morphine, oxycodone (OxyContin), oxycodone and acetaminophen (Percocet) — the percentage of people who reported taking one rose to 42 percent.
The survey showed that 14 percent of respondents thought sharing opioid painkillers was appropriate, 28 percent said there were little to no negative consequences of sharing, and 26 percent thought it was a misdemeanor crime.
That means 69 percent of respondents apparently didn’t know that sharing such drugs could result in a felony conviction and a possible penalty of several years in prison, the survey said.
Only 12 percent of people who use opioid painkillers expressed concern about the potential of becoming addicted to them, even though 57 percent of users have at least one risk factor for addiction — alcoholism; depression; use of psychiatric medication; and physical, mental or sexual abuse, the study said.
Users also overestimate the benefits of taking opioid painkillers, the survey said.
Seventy-four percent of respondents said they somewhat or strongly agree that opioid painkillers are stronger at treating pain than drugs such as ibuprofen, and 78 percent said it is the fastest way to treat pain.
But opioids can make a person more sensitive to pain, “and in most cases, it’s not faster,” said Dr. Donald Teater, NSC medical adviser on prescription drug overdose initiatives.
Only one in five respondents thought prescription pain medication is a serious safety threat, when it is the second-highest killer behind driving accidents.
Respondents rated gun violence, severe weather and commercial airline travel as a greater safety threat even though those things all ranked considerably lower than the number of pain-pill deaths.
Teater suggested that people using prescription painkillers talk to their doctor about alternatives to opioids and take them for “two to three days, not two to three months.”
They should also dispose of pain pills as soon as they are no longer needed or put them in a locked place if they are needed for an extended time, he said.
Patients sometimes demand to be given certain painkillers, so it’s important that the patient and doctor are educated on the dangers, he said.
The relationship between prescription painkillers and heroin is clear, Teater said, because of the cost of heroin compared to prescription pain pills. A prescription painkiller habit of 200 milligrams per day can cost $200 to $300 per day, but that amount of heroin is about $30.
Teater said he knows of only one patient from his medical practice who ever became addicted to heroin without first using painkillers. That person first used heroin in prison, he said.