For many reasons, you may have stopped using some opioids that were prescribed to you. Probably because you didn’t have symptoms of the ailment anymore. These unused opioids remain in our drug cabinet for a very long time, and they can be dangerous to your family.
What are opioids?
Opioids are commonly prescribed as drugs for pain relief. They are manufactured and sold in pharmacies as pills, dermal patches or syrups. Some of the popular opioids prescribed for pain and aches are hydrocodone, morphine, and oxycodone. It is unfortunate to know that so many Americans die from opioid overdose every year as reported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The danger of unused opioids
Due to the high rate of deaths caused by an overdose of opioids, the danger of these drugs has often been described as a crisis in America. An alarming statistics have shown that over 70% of the total opioids prescribed are not used by the patients. They remain stored in drug cabinets where they can be accidentally ingested or used by people with suicidal tendencies.
Keeping your family safe
It is important that every member of the society must only use opioids that have been prescribed by medical personnel. It is dangerous to use these drugs after getting them from friends or cabinets where they have been stored for many months.
The public has also been warned to get rid of unused opioids as they can be reached by young children and unintentionally ingested. According to Stephanie Lau proper disposal is important, and if needed at a later date a new prescription can be obtained. These messages have been regarded as necessary due to the high rate of emergency cases brought into the ER wards for opioid overdose annually, according to the reports presented by the Nationwide Emergency Department. The dangers of unused opioids and the number of deaths from overdose can be reduced when more awareness is created about this issue in public.
Torsi is a professional blogger.