"In South Africa women feature more heavily than men in the abuse of over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription drugs... and middle and upper classes are more likely to abuse prescription medicines.
"A lot depends on what steps are taken to address the potential for the abuse of products, for example, real time prescription registers that prevent people filling scripts fraudulently across multiple pharmacies (this is starting to happen with pharmacies that are linked but we need to link pharmacies together that are not in the same networks). We also need to work with medical insurance companies to look into why certain clients remain on benzodiazepines for long periods. Doctors need to be mindful of the abuse potential when giving repeat scripts."
And that is, in part, where some of the problem lies, it can be so profitable for a doctor to have addicted clients.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration says that, "Hydrocodone is the most frequently prescribed opiate in the United States with more than 139 million prescriptions for hydrocodone-containing products dispensed in 2010 and more than 36 million in the first quarter of 2011." The Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office says the number of deaths annually due to accidental overdose of prescription drugs has nearly tripled in the past decade; hydrocodone is most often involved, followed by the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam, and two other painkillers: oxycodone and morphine.
The US has launched a variety of initiatives, not one of which yet, does anything meaningful to address an epidemic that cuts to the heart of its working population at a time of economic crisis.
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