include hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin), oxycodone (e.g., OxyContin, Percocet), morphine (e.g., Kadian, Avinza), codeine, and related drugs. Hydrocodone products are the most commonly prescribed for a variety of painful conditions, including dental and injury-related pain.
Overdoses of prescription opioids continue to trend upward in San Bernardino County, according to Apple Valley Town Councilman Curt Emick.
Emick — a pharmacist — said statistics show overdoses are highest in the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, but he added that they’re increasing everywhere in the county and surrounding areas.
“If you look at (stats from) 2011 to 2014, and you look at the range of colors they’re all moving toward the red range, which represents the highest color,” Emick said. “Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, Big Bear, Lucerne Valley are all in the red area.”
Emick said overdoses increased in Apple Valley, as well.
“It isn't in the highest range,” he said, “(but) it moved from green to yellow, and now it’s orange. The conclusion is if you're seeing an increase (in overdoses), you're probably seeing an increase in use, though that wasn't solidified in the study. It’s the trend that’s scary, not the numbers, because the trend is showing an increase.”
As such, Emick wasn’t surprised that a recent Associated Press investigation found that makers of prescription painkillers have adopted a 50-state strategy that includes hundreds of lobbyists and millions in campaign contributions to help kill or weaken measures aimed at stemming the tide of prescription opioids.
“There’s a lot of politics involved,” Emick said. “There’s a lot of large, corporate manufacturers with a lot of money to spend because there’s a lot of money to be made.”
Federal, state and local officials have collaborated to make rules related to acquiring opioid prescriptions more stringent, according to Emick, who added that checks and balances between prescribing doctors and pharmacists are crucial to decreasing abuse.
On his end, Emick said pharmacists check prescriptions, the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System database to ensure patients are within the one-to-two day timeframe to get prescriptions filled and ID all patients.