Know the Facts
Here’s where the United States stands with the opioid epidemic today:
- Every 11 minutes someone in the U.S. overdoses from an opioid.
- 80% of heroin users started with a legal opioid prescription.
- Opioids remain the gold standard in treatment for pain management.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Opioid drug abuse and dependency have remained a major health crisis in the United States since the mid-1990s. One major issue contributing to this problem is the ease with which prescription medications can be misused due to the lack of a proper safeguard. For example, the current practice of using the familiar “orange bottle” to distribute pills enables patients to take multiple doses at their own discretion.
ScripGuard™ offers a promising approach to tackle this public health problem. It allows doctors and pharmacies to replace an antiquated system with an innovative device. This innovative device ensures that patients can only take one dosage at a time, according to the prescribed schedule. By taking this approach, ScripGuard™ effectively combats the misuse of prescription medications, making a significant impact on public health.
Millions of Opioid Prescriptions Equals Devastating Consequences
ScripGuard™ is a key factor in managing America’s substantial health care and litigation costs by reducing the possibility of opioid misuse often leading to addiction.
In the United States, the Federal Drug Administration has reported an alarming number of opioid prescriptions — a staggering 191 million — written in just one year, and over 30% of those prescriptions are misused. Tragically, more than 136 people lose their lives each day due to opioid overdoses, as reported by the National Center for Drug Abuse.
The situation is not only devastating in terms of loss of life, but it also carries a heavy economic burden. The Senate Joint Economic Committee estimates the opioid epidemic cost the United States a staggering $1.5 trillion in 2020 — up 37% from 2017 when the Centers for Disease Control last measured. To put it into perspective, according to the National Institute of Health, this amount far surpasses the annual medical cost for cancer research and treatment, which stands at $208 billion in 2020.
In response to this dire epidemic, ScripGuard™ has developed a proactive approach. Our mission is to assist patients in complying with their prescription opioids or other prescription medication usage while minimizing the personal and financial impact of overdose or misuse.
Prescription opioids are a factor in 32% of opioid overdose deaths.
Between 8 and 12% of people using an opioid for chronic pain develops an opioid use disorder.
About 80% of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids.
Roughly 21 to 29% of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them.
An estimated 4 to 6% who misuse prescription opoids transistion to heroin.
12% of prescription drug abusers are addicted.