Opiods, Big Pharma and Us

By Maddie Roth

In 2022, there were 1,028 opioid related deaths in Minnesota. 377 of those were in Hennepin County, which is where Minneapolis resides. This is a 3.6% increase from the year before, with Hennepin’s increase being 7.1%. St. Paul, the twin city to Minneapolis, saw 177 opioid related deaths in 2022, a 35.1% increase from the year before. Minnesotans ages 25-34 had 1,557 nonfatal hospital visits for opioid-involved overdoses in 2022, the largest number of all age groups.

While there are several reasons researchers have seen this number increase throughout the years, one question remains: how did we get here?

A dear friend of mine almost lost her life to opioids. Her addiction began with an overprescription of Vicodin, an opioid that contains a combination of acetaminophen and hydrocodone.

When she was 15, my friend, let’s call her Rose (simply to protect her identity), broke her foot. She was prescribed to take three to four Vicodin a day.

Let’s compare this to when I was prescribed Vicodin. Last year, I had ear surgery. I was prescribed to take one Vicodin a day. If my pain had gotten unbearable, I could take another, but it was not recommended.

So why was my friend told to take three to four in a single day?

Let me introduce you to the Sackler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma. The pharmaceutical company’s main drug that they manufactured was called Oxycontin. Nearly all of the states in the U.S. filed lawsuits against the family for the role they played in the opioid crisis. Many have come to claim that the Sackler’s company was responsible for overprescribing Oxycontin, in order to rob millions of people of their money.

After all, the more drugs they sold, the more profit they saw.

Rose’s addiction to opioids eventually progressed to heroin. She overdosed over ten times before entering a rehab program that saved her life. Although doctors have been told to lower prescription rates, there seems to still be some miscommunication. Where do we draw the line on what is normal and what isn’t when it comes to opioids?

For example, my father suffered from a heart attack a couple of years ago. Since then, he has been in and out of the hospital due to his heart going out of rhythm. The last time he went, they gave him a fentanyl patch. My father described his heart going out of rhythm as “uncomfortable but manageable.” When the doctor told him they were giving him fentanyl, he said he didn’t need it. Despite my father’s refusal, the doctor gave him the patch. You tell me who’s responsible for the American opioid crisis.

The Wake sent out a survey asking people to give their thoughts and concerns on addiction around our campus. Out of the 20 respondents, 100% of people answered Yes when asked, “Do you know someone close to you that has struggled or is struggling with addiction?”

That’s 100%. I understand 20 people isn’t a lot, in light of the innumerable amount of students the poll was posed to, but that’s 20 people who know someone close to them that has struggled or is struggling with addiction. And if this small sample is representative of our whole school’s population at all, it becomes clear that our campus has grappled in some way with the effects of the opioid epidemic.

When asking “Do you think the U provides adequate resources of support for addiction?”, a majority of the respondents answered No.

The University has been hit in the past when it comes to the lack of resources they provide for students. To our audience, how many of you know about Recovery on Campus? The group meets once a week and provides a place for students who may be struggling with substance use.

The problem, though, is how many of you would go to a meeting like this? So many people struggle to admit that they may have problems with substances and would never go to a meeting because of the stigma surrounding what it means to go to one.

Look around you. There are people in this world who struggle everyday and tell nobody about it. Some of it has to do with shame, another part has to do with denial. As one of our respondents said, “You never think it’ll happen to you, and it’s that exact belief that keeps you from getting help.”

So often of the time seeing somebody struggle with addiction can blur the line between their humanity and their addiction, so much so that we fail to separate the addict from the person. Despite how much it might not feel like it, there remains hope. So, let’s talk about treatment.

Only 1 in 10 people with Substance Use Disorder actually receive treatment in the U.S. Paying for treatment can bleed people dry because of how expensive it is. This is one, if not the main, reason people do not seek treatment.

But that doesn’t mean Alcohol and Narcotics Anonymous meetings don’t exist. There are tons around the Twin Cities area that are welcoming to people of all ages. These meetings aren’t the same as going into a treatment facility, but they’re something to lean on if you’re in need of an ear. To learn more about these meetings, or to find one happening near you, go to NA.org and look up Minneapolis or St. Paul locations.

College is a time where people tend to experiment with drugs. Some of us try certain drugs once and tell ourselves we’re never going to take them again. Others try them and fall down a rabbit hole of dependency and depression. Of course, trying drugs may seem fun and appealing. That’s why so many of us happen to try them at least once, especially during our time on-campus as undergraduates. But what looms on the other side of experimentation can be dangerous and is always uncertain.

There has been a significant increase of drugs being laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin. All it takes is three milligrams of fentanyl to cause an overdose. For comparison, the average dose of heroin to cause an overdose is 30 milligrams.

I wrote a story about a year ago about a woman who accidentally overdosed on fentanyl. She thought she was taking a line of cocaine. She actually took a line of pure fentanyl and overdosed almost immediately.

This brings me to the final point of my headline: us. What can we do to help combat the opioid epidemic?

We can advocate. We can spread awareness. We can find solutions. It starts with us. It starts with getting to know local advocacy groups and learning as much as possible about how we can lend a hand. The University often offers classes on how to administer Narcan and save somebody from a life-threatening overdose, and can be found on MyU. But these resources exist beyond campus, too. Steve Rummler Hope Network is a non-profit organization working to combat the crisis in any way possible. One of their specialties is overdose response training where they teach people how to appropriately respond to an overdose and hand out free Narcan, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Narcan, or scientifically known as Naloxone, is free in Minnesota. You can get it over the counter at any pharmacy.

Two years ago, I lost a close friend of mine to an opioid overdose. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about him and question how his addiction spiraled out of control. He had been promoted at his job, got engaged and moved out of the sober living house into his own apartment.

He had also recently suffered an injury at his job where a metal pole fell on his arm and sprained his wrist. My friend’s opioid addiction started when he was in his early 20s. His doctor knew he was struggling with addiction from their past conversations. Despite this, his doctor prescribed him Vicodin for his sprained wrist. That prescription was in his hand when his fiancee arrived at his apartment the next morning.