The Opioid Crisis and Untreated Pain in Australia
Kevin is a strong advocate for those living with persistent pain. A dedicated volunteer, he is fighting to change the way society views opioid use within the persistent pain community.
Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2022 was released by the Penington Institute on September 2nd, coinciding with International Overdose Awareness Day. Their website loudly trumpets the shocking news, “America’s Opioid Epidemic is Australia’s Future, If We Don’t Act Now!”
True or false?
To me, it is crystal clear, from this fear-based and emotive announcement, how and why our media focus has followed the American example. It is irrationally based on sensational claims, and overblown headlines.
…Is their claim truthful and based on accurate data?
To answer, claiming ‘thousands of deaths’ from opioids may have some statistical relevance, but only if we also include illicit opioids, polypharmacy, and other factors into the overall mix. The truth is there is another story to tell. Sadly, due to irresponsible media reporting, ignorance, or a willful misunderstanding of the statistics, there are false implications. It is often implied that opioid overdose deaths are due to pharmaceutical opioids, as used by chronic pain patients. This is far from the truth.
In fact, many responsible chronic pain patients who are using their pain killers as prescribed, i.e. as part of an overall pain management plan, have been significantly disadvantaged in recent years. This is as a direct result of ‘new age’ theories, and anti-opioid policies that have been introduced in Australia.
Essentially, I believe that no thought at all has been given to the legitimate, medical use of opioids, and how demonising all opioids negatively impacts the chronic pain patient population.
The message the public constantly is bombarded with in our media is the following:
1. Opioids are 100% addictive;
2. Thousands of people are overdosing on opioids;
3. Prescription opioid pain killers are 100% addictive;
4. Thousands of people are overdosing on prescription pain killers.
Ergo, in order to supposedly reduce National opioid, overdose deaths, our Federal Government, via the TGA, has restricted the issue of legally prescribed pharmaceutical opioids to all people. This includes chronic pain patients, since the introduction of the new and ‘improved’ Opioid Prescribing Guidelines, 01-06-2020. I feel that this misdirected Policy change is not logical, or sensible, in any way.
Why?
Well, let's look at the Penington Institute's actual figures, specifically as they relate to Figure 39 in the 2022 Report. "…There were 856 unintentional drug-induced deaths involving opioids in 2020," and also, "The combination of opioids with a broad range of other pharmaceuticals is confirmed as 412 deaths in 2020."
Data Excerpt - FIGURE 39
If we are to analyse this further, there were 28 deaths from pharmaceutical opioids only in 2020, as demonstrated by the last line in the data excerpt above. As a layman, chronic pain patient and advocate, if there were only 28 deaths in total I cannot for the life of me understand why a figure so low has resulted in such a heavy handed, ill-thought out approach from the TGA. This has gotten to the point where there have been many negative consequences for pain patients.
It is now plain to see that chronic pain patients, who largely use their legally prescribed opioids responsibly and safely, have become casualties; they have become collateral damage in the misunderstood ‘War against Drugs.’
WHY is it that no mention is ever made in the media (or elsewhere) of how many people actually overdose on prescription opioids ALONE?
It's an important distinction to be made, or question to ask. This is as recently many chronic pain patients have been abandoned, and irreparably harmed, on the back of biased assumptions and irresponsible media reporting.
How is this so?
Thousands of chronic pain patients around the country have been needlessly force-tapered, or completely removed, from their long-term and stable pharmaceutical opioid therapy. This is all due to the statistics being ignored and misinterpreted. Even worse still, the statistics have been reported selectively and incorrectly in the media.
For example, the general public is constantly presented with pictures of pill bottles on the news. This leads to the assumption that the falsely named opioid crisis is entirely due to irresponsible pain patients, who are abusing their medication to get high. As I said above, this is media sensationalism. The real truth is hidden away in the Penington Report’s statistics and graphs, if one is prepared to be objective, clear-headed, and take the time to carefully understand the facts as they really are.
For further information, please see this link, as the issue has been retrospectively highlighted by Pain Australia, and other Peak Pain Advocacy Bodies in media releases.
So how do we stop this blatant and uninformed bias, intentional or not, from occurring in the media?
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