Impact of Pandemic on Opioid Dependent Patients in the United States

The Opioid Epidemic During the COVID-19 Pandemic

With the current global pandemic of the coronavirus, it is evident that other deadly illness continue to receive little or no attention within the healthcare system.   In the United States, the arrival of the Covid 19 coronavirus pandemic continue to provide an anticipated haven for the already dangerous opioid epidemic. There have also been a lot of covid-19 related protective shelter in place orders which continue to push individuals to fight for the sobriety into the level of isolation and continue to reduce the access to opportunity and treatment for the distraction from addiction (National Institution of Drug Abuse, 2020).  In this regard, the addiction community continue to raise a lot of alarm in the current regarding the current epidemiological climate for opportunity and climate alone as a major risk factor in regard to substance the relapse of substance abuse which continues to make the pandemic appear as a national relapse trigger.  The issue of social distancing thus continues to seal a surge when it comes to the people of opioid abuse, thus leading to the mortality and morbidity that is larger than anyone seen before.

The Opioid pandemic continues to also cause the morbidity and pathology beyond the level of bodily health in regard to the individual patient and the collective level.  Just like other forms of epidemics throughout history, the aspects of disability and causation loss and disability can also be viewed in public and the private economies, in addition to the collective societal cache. Also this is perceived in the astronomically inflated managed level of care costs, which also reduces the productivity in the labour market, and the cost of various opportunities in regard to the body of public resources (Parshley, 2020). Also, when looking at the oversimplified view regarding the said situation could also lead for some medical practitioners to refuse the prescriptions for Opioid and coverage which is also an effective response to both the health and the costs of management in regard to the Opioid epidemic.

Various studies have also continued to indicate that patients who suffer from the disorder of opioid dependence in the setting of occupational and spinal disorders that are also less likely to improve the social function and the vocational function which also has longer lengths of disability in 3 ways. Also studies shows that these patients are 2.5 times more likely to have had the pre-treatment surgery, which is 1.7 times more likely to engage in regard to the utilization of healthcare with new providers (Parshley, 2020). They are also 1.5 times more likely to be legally represented. The inefficiencies and the costs are also not viewed in case controlled subjects with same type of spinal pathologies that also do not become opioid dependent.

Also, when looking at the trend of increased disability severity and the length related with the use of opioid, medial charges and private insurance for patients that suffer from abuse of opioid in addition to the dependency which is more than around 550% higher than the average of the annual per-patient charge. The point related to such data also encompasses the costs in regard to related comorbid conditions like pain related diagnosis, substance use and psychiatric behavior.  There is also the issue of increased hospitalization for people with Covid 19 including the increase of people visiting the emergency department. These are also not the costs of opioid prescription, and will not see a reduction of the prescription coverage. Dependent patients will also feel the impact in regard to private insurance which will have to bear with the inflated price tag related to healthcare in regard to the opioid epidemic.  About one third of the patient currently receiving treatment for the use of opioid are covered by the Medicaid (Taylor, 2015). Looking at the impact that the pandemic is making on the physical and institutional costs for opioid epidemic, even with the adequate trials of scale, time and effort to combat it which also calls for the need of a tactical change.

According to the current statistics it is evident that various years of focussing the attack on limiting access to opioid especially for patients that have become independent on the use of opioid which is also not improving the outcome especially for patients in the United States. In the same line, the advent of Covid 19 pandemic continue to offer a lot of painful learning opportunities. Where different insights regarding factors related to issues such as social distancing that continue to worsen the point of epidemic to the opportunities required in combating the problem through a number of treatment approaches to ensure that changes are directed on the antithesis of social distancing (Parshley, 2020).  This means that in the event social distancing is going to bolster the current opioid situation in the country, the opposite behaviors that strengthen the attack on the condition, techniques for stress reduction, emotional resiliency, health education and human connection through group treatment especially where the epidemiology is viewed as being safe. 

In conclusion, the current pandemic as completely altered approaches to opioid dependent patients leading to limited access and optional treatment such as buprenorphine, promotion of sustainable and appropriate physical activity and integrated interdisciplinary modalities.  It is also important to establish a novel treatment approach like one that will invests on the early and robust healthcare alternatives to ensure that patients who are opioid dependent address the factors which makes then vulnerable to opioid dependency.

References

National Institution of Drug Abuse. (2020, May 27). Opioid overdose crisis | national institute on drug abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis

Parshley, L. (2020, April 21). The pandemic may fuel the next wave of the opioid crisis. www.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved July 22, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/coronavirus-pandemic-may-fuel-the-next-wave-of-the-opioid-crisis/

Taylor, D. R. (2015). Managing patients with chronic pain and opioid addiction. In Managing patients with chronic pain and opioid addiction (pp. 39–68). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08111-3_4