“The face of the U.S. opioid epidemic is becoming increasingly white and increasingly female, just as it was some 135 years ago.
The impact of the epidemic has been severe for both males and females, but statistics show greater harm occurring among women and girls. Chief among these are overdose deaths from prescription pain killers. Between 1990 and 2010, these deaths increased among men by 265 percent, while the number grew by 400 percent among women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Yet when the CDC issued its guideline on opioid-prescribing for chronic pain last year, the recommendations didn’t distinguish between males and females.
“The prescribing guidelines are gender-blind,” said Mishka Terplan, MD. “That’s unfortunate.”
Read more at: https://wire.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/women-bear-greater-burden-opioid-epidemic
Source: AMA-ASSN.org – June 27, 2017
