Prescription Drug Abuse and Pregnancy: Risks and Treatment Options New!

• Exposure to illicit drugs during pregnancy has been reported to be associated with increased incidences of low birth weight and premature birth.

• The National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health (2008) reported that among pregnant women, 6.0% report nonmedical use of any prescription-type psychotherapeutic drug. Among pregnant women aged 15 to 44, misuse of pain relievers occurs at a rate of 4.4%, tranquilizers 2%, and any stimulant 1.3%.

• Women who abuse opiates during pregnancy greatly increase their risk of serious pregnancy complications. These risks include poor fetal growth, premature rupture of the membranes (the bag of waters that holds the fetus breaks too soon), premature birth, and stillbirth.
  

• The results of several studies suggest that pregnancy outcomes of substance-abusing women improve with regular comprehensive care, including prenatal care, addiction treatment services, and other social services.

General Facts about Prescription Drug Abuse Updated!

• Abuse of prescription drugs is the fastest growing segment for illegal drug use in the United States. More people abuse prescription drugs than the number of people who use cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin combined.
  

• It has been reported that an estimated 48 million people in the United States have used prescription drugs non-medically.

• In 2008, West Virginia has the highest rate of prescription drug overdose deaths in the US, surpassing both motor vehicle crashes and falls as the leading cause of accidental death.

• Teenagers an the elderly are the most vulnerable populations to prescription drug abuse. Over 1/3 of all elderly persons being prescribed medication will not follow the directions properly, leading to tolerance, dependence, and addiction.

• Recent statistics show that the number of people who died in one year from overdoses of prescription drugs alone is more than six times the number of people who died from overdoses of all other illegal drugs combined.                                                         

• In five years (1999-2004), deaths resulting from drug overdose in West Virginia rose 550%.  This was the largest increase of any state in the country. 

• Approximately 20% of people have used prescription drugs non-medically in their lifetime.  This figure represents 48 million Americans.

• Research indicates that teenagers abuse prescription drugs more than they abuse heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, crack or ecstasy, partly because they see prescriptions as ‘safer’ than other drugs. 
  

• The explosive increase in prescription drug abuse is of particular concern among teenagers. Recent statistics show that 1 in 5 teens reported that they have abused prescription drugs to get high, and 1 in 7 reported doing so in the past 12 months.

• It is estimated that 50 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. When treating pain, health care providers have long wrestled with a dilemma - how to adequately relieve a patient's suffering, while avoiding the potential for that patient to become addicted to the pain medication.

• The number of emergency room visits attributable to the abuse of prescription drugs increased by 97% from 2004 to 2008.

• In 2008 and 2009, several studies found West Virginia to have the highest PD utilization rate - with 18.4 PDs filled per capita, as compared to the 11.6 prescriptions on a national average.

• Recent studies have found that chronic pain patients in rural areas and Appalachia report higher usages of opioids prescribed by physicians, with over 1/3 also reporting nonmedical use.

Learn how Prescription Drug Work in Your Body New!

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