Policy Brief on Opioid

Policy Brief on Curbing Misuse of Opioids
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Policy Brief on Curbing Misuse of Opioids
Issue Summary
President Trump’s administration declared the opioid epidemic. The declaration was in response to the increased abuse and cases of addiction for illicit, prescription and pain medication. In response, the government found it prudent to initiate new laws and policies that would help tighten the control and create awareness to the society regarding the use of opioids. Unfortunately, other stakeholders hold different views regarding limiting access to pain treatment amongst cancer patients. As a result, a viable treatment plan that would ensure that the patients have access to ideal pain treatment and reprieve is inevitable.
Relevant Background Information
Pain management is a critical aspect of the medical world, especially for cancer patients. The use of opioid interventions when other treatment options have proved ineffective is known to provide relevant relief to patients. Unfortunately, the use of opioids has created another challenge whereby patients are now exhibiting incidences of addiction and drug abuse amongst patients (Wickramatilake, Zur, Mulvaney-Day, Klimo, Selmi, & Harwood, 2017). Inadvertently, the prescription of opioids should be used for short periods (Lucas, Neeper, Linde & Bennett, 2017). Unfortunately, Madras (2017), mentions that patients who develop addiction trigger the need to address alternative issues …