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Pharmacy students visit to India sheds new light on the understanding of opioid epidemic in US
Abstract
US has a serious problem of drug addiction with over 52,000 lives lost in 2015 alone. During our elective advanced pharmacy practice rotation in India, we were surprised to find that with a much larger population and with limited enforcement of prescription control, opioid deaths are relatively rare. In this article we postulate some of the factors that may explain this discrepancy.
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References
Health Care Costs from Opioid Abuse: A State-By-State Anaylys. Matrix Global Advisors. April 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.drugfree.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Matrix_OpioidAbuse_040415.pdf
National Survey on Extent, Pattern, and Trends of Drug Abuse in India. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. June, 2004. Retrieved from: http://www.unodc.org/pdf/india/presentations/india_national_survey_2004.pdf
Dowell D, Haegerich TM, Chou R. CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain - United States, 2016. MMWR Recomm Rep 2016;65(No. RR-1):1-49. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.rr6501e1
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