Opioid crisis: Should Malaysia be worried?

• Main Author: Zin, Che Suraya
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: RM Therapeutics. Pharmacology; RM147 Administration of Drugs and Other Therapeutic Agents
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/73536/2/190722_email_announcement_Opioid%20Crisis_%20Should%20Malaysia%20be%20Worried_.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/73536/1/190721_abstract_masp_cme_Suraya.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/73536/

About 20 years ago, compassionate advocacy for better treatment of chronic pain, combined with aggressive marketing of opioid formulations, led to a sharp increase in the prescribing of opioid analgesics for patients with chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) in most developed countries. An unintended consequence of this approach was an “opioid epidemic” in the United States, namely an increase in opioid use and in parallel misuse/abuse and deaths. Every day, more than 130 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids. The misuse of and addiction to opioids including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare. Prescription of opioid analgesics was responsible for more deaths than both suicide and motor vehicle accidents or deaths from cocaine and heroin abuse combined in the United States in 2010. It was estimated that the majority of deaths (60%) occurred in patients receiving prescriptions based on prescribing guidelines by medical boards, while 40% of deaths occurred in individuals with substance use disorders who obtained opioids through multiple prescriptions, doctor shopping, and drug diversion. The “flood opioids and the rising tide of deaths” in the United States raised the question if there is a worldwide opioid epidemic. Should Malaysia also be worried about opioid epidemic? Findings from a number of research on opioid use in patients with pain in Malaysia showing similar trends and patterns of opioid use as studies from other countries. However, further research is warranted to better characterize the situation of opioid use in Malaysia particularly in documenting the clinical outcomes of opioid use.