The Epidemic of Narcotic Overuse in Hand and Upper Extremity Patients
Over the past 20 years there has been an explosive increase in the prescribing and consumption of opioid medications in the US. It is now estimated that Americans despite being only 5% of the world’s population consume 80% of the opioid narcotics produced world-wide. As a consequence, the death rate from the misuse of these drugs has more than doubled since 1999. It is estimated that in any given month 5.1 million Americans used narcotics for non-medical reasons and $42 billion in lost economic productivity nation-wide is linked to its adverse effects.
