Viktor Krystufek
Acupuncture Society of New York, USA
Title: AOM in workers’ compensation and opioid epidemic
Biography
Biography: Viktor Krystufek
Abstract
Statement: The United States is facing an opioid epidemic. In 2015, there were 52,000 American deaths from all drug overdoses. Two thirds of them, 33,000, were from opioids, compared to 16,000 in 2010 and 4,000 in 1999. In 2016, deaths from overdoses increased over the previous year by 26% in Connecticut, 35% in Delaware, 39% in Maine, and 62% in Maryland. Nearly half of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid. The 2015 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary published by the US Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration states that “the threat posed by controlled prescription drugs abuse is prevalent, and every year since 2002 the number of deaths attributable to CPDs has outpaced those for cocaine and heroin combined. The number of treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities for non-heroin opiate/synthetic abuse in 2012 was 36.5 percent higher than the number in 2008; however the number of admissions declined from 2011 to 2012. This decline can likely be attributed to the number of CPD abusers using heroin, which increased from 2011 to 2012. Many abusers, when unable to obtain or afford CPDs, began using heroin, a cheaper alternative that offers similar physiological effects.