The most fatally abused drug today may be sitting in your medicine cabinet.
The National Safety Council is launching a provocative and very informative campaign highlighting the dangers of prescription opioids. These widely prescribed pain killers can be found in medicine cabinets across the country and have directly lead to more than 22,000 deaths last year.
To highlight the personal impact of this tragedy, a special machine is carving the individual faces of victims on 22,000 pills. This traveling educational exhibit is debuting in Chicago before traveling across the country.
Despite the escalating impact of opioids, only 16% of patients starting a painkiller are concerned about addiction.
To reduce the number of opioids in circulation, NSC has created “Opioids: Warn Me” labels for insurance and pharmacy cards. These labels are intended to prompt a critical conversation between patients and prescribers about the risks of taking opioids and possible alternatives.
As part of the campaign, Stericycle is providing pre-paid Seal&Send envelopes for returning unused medications.
“The most fatally abused drug today may be sitting in your medicine cabinet,” said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. “Fortunately, we know what we need to do to eliminate more than 20,000 preventable deaths each year, and education plays a critical role. We hope the Stop Everyday Killers campaign helps personalize this tragedy in order to save lives.”
To learn more about prescription overdoses and the National Safety Council campaign, click here.
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