Facing up to the prescription opioid crisis

Abstract

Deaths resulting from prescription opioids tripled in the United States between 1999 and 2007 and are also increasing in many other countries, including the United Kingdom. <b>Irfan A Dhalla</b>, <b>Navindra Persaud</b>, and <b>David N Juurlink</b> describe how this situation developed and propose several ways to reduce morbidity and mortality from opioids