Statistics
Information regarding drug overdose deaths is collected by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Vital Statistics Section. This data is pulled from information found on death certificates in Texas and is further broken down into demographic, geographic, and medical information. The statistics below provide evidence of overdose deaths in Texas alone which have also increased over the years and beg the need for more regulation.
The state attempts to monitor the prescribing of controlled substances through the Texas Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP). This website shares data with 30 other states allowing its monitoring to extend to a national level. This program requires state pharmacies to submit all information on prescriptions filled for controlled substances electronically to a central office, such as the health department or board of pharmacy. Information is provided to prescribers about patients using multiple prescribers or pharmacies, and in some cases to law enforcement about illegal prescribing (Haegerich et al, 2014). Many states including Texas, regulated authorizing the creation of a PDMP. This strategy would include providers searching PDMP data to determine if their patients are using multiple prescribers and/or pharmacies for these drugs (Haegerich et al, 2014).
Beginning in March of 2020, all pharmacists and prescribers are required to check a patients PMP history before the dispensing/prescribing of any opioids, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, or carisoprodol. However, this may not be enough to curve the rise in sale of opioid drugs which has claimed the lives of 450,000 people from 1999 to 2018 nationwide (Chandler et al, 2020). This is a concerning number of deaths when in relation to a medication fostered from the hands of healthcare.
Plan of Action
To stop the number of deaths from going up, state policy and systems-level helpful programs have the potential to help with prescription drug misuse and overdose (Haegerich et al, 2014). While drug abuse seems to go up each year, there is a lot of proof of practices that have evolved through research, to stop and help opioid misuse and opioid use disorder. This is to finally lower opioid overdose deaths and also address the health effects (Chandler et al, 2020). The authority and action must be taken by each prescriber.
An important part of supporting good behavior is Education for Patients and Providers. There are programs that teach them about prescription opioid use and misuse. Patient education focuses on information like family and school-based prevention. Provider education focuses on opioid prescribing. This would have tools, workshops, lectures, and the support of talking to somebody. This idea has help from state health departments, community groups, health systems, and schools (Haegerich et al, 2014). This would help with retaining knowledge. It shows how it's better to recognize overdoses and how to deal with them. Through this program, it's proved that there is a lower rate of opioid use.