Poll Takers Place Opioid Crisis Blame at the Feet of the Pharmaceutical Industry

It is estimated that more than 130 people in the United States die every day from an opioid-related overdose and the general public vastly lays the blame for these deaths at the feet of the pharmaceutical industry. A poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that two-thirds of those who participated say the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the opioid-based pain medications are largely to blame for the crisis that has swept across the country. In 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services officially recognized the crisis and declared a public health emergency. And, it seems that the government also shares the sentiment of those polled. On the HHS web page devoted to the opioid epidemic, the first entry points to the marketing efforts by pharmaceutical companies in the 1990s that included reassurances that patients would not become addicted to the opioid-based pain relievers. As a result of that, prescribers increased the number of prescriptions being written for opioid pain relievers.