There is Now Potential to turn off the Firehose of the Opioid Crisis in Your Community

Now Declared a National Emergency by the White House, Innovative Companies are Driving Research on How to Prevent Opioid Abuse

The numbers tell the story. The U.S. opioid crisis is the largest public health crisis in history, with more than 59,000 opioid-related drug overdoses in 2016 alone, making opioids the spawn of the deadliest drug overdose crisis in U.S. history. Accordingly, the economic impact of opioid abuse is no less daunting.

Nationwide, opioid-related hospitalizations cost about $20 billion. Societal costs for opioids—including for social services, public safety, and criminal justice—will be about $83 billion in 2017. Nearly one-fourth of that economic burden is paid by public, tax-funded sources. 

And it’s only getting worse. The U.S. is the world leader in opioid prescriptions and it’s estimated that as many as 650,000 people will die over the next 10 years from opioid overdoses — more than the entire city of Baltimore. That means that the U.S. risks losing the equivalent of a whole American city in just one decade.

Unfortunately, current solutions are focused on treating those that are already victims of addiction, vs. working to prevent the abuse before it starts, and they’ve done little to stem the tide.  

 Now, new data confirm what experts have long known -- genetics play a significant role in opioid addiction.  Read full story