January 7, 2018 11:24PM # *Washington Post* Columnist Needs to Get Her Opioid Facts Right By [Jeffrey A. Singer](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-singer) --- SHARE In a December 28, 2017 [column](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/12/28/opioid-abuse-in-america-is-so-bad-its-lowering-our-life-expectancy-why-hasnt-the-epidemic-hit-other-countries/?utm_term=.8ffa2a82bf83) for the *Washington Post* entitled, “Opioid Abuse in the US Is So Bad It’s Lowering Life Expectancy. Why Hasn’t the Epidemic Hit Other Countries?,” Amanda Erickson succumbs to the false narrative that [misdiagnoses](http://www.insidesources.com/misdiagnosing-opioid-crisis/) the opioid overdose crisis as being [primarily a manifestation](https://tonic.vice.com/en_us/article/a3z98b/big-pharma-didnt-cause-the-opioid-crisis-most-pain-patients-dont-get-addicted) of doctors over-prescribing opioids, goaded on by greedy, unethical pharmaceutical companies. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health [revealed less than 25%](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/opioid-addiction-is-a-huge-problem-but-pain-prescriptions-are-not-the-cause/) of people using opioids for non-medical reasons get them through a prescription. A [study](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1918924) reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association found just 13% of overdose victims had chronic pain conditions. [Multiple](http://thblack.com/links/rsd/Addiction2012_publ_online_Oct18_DevDependafterTxwOpioids4PainReliefREV.pdf) [Cochrane](http://www.cochrane.org/CD006605/SYMPT_opioids-long-term-treatment-noncancer-pain) analyses show a true addiction (not just dependency) rate of roughly 1% in chronic pain patients on long-term opioids. Yet despite the 41% [reduction](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/06/health/opioid-painkillers-prescriptions-united-states.html) in the prescription of high-dose opioids since 2010, the overdose rate continues to climb, and for the past few years heroin and fentanyl have been the [major causes of death](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/5/16255040/opioid-epidemic-overdose-death-2016), as death from prescription opioids has stabilized or receded. In actual fact, the rise in drug abuse and overdose is multifactorial, with [socioeconomic](http://www.healthcostinstitute.org/healthy-bytes/) and [sociocultural](https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/ndarc/resources/TR.228.pdf) [components](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10385932). This helps explain the Washington University [study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28582659) reporting 33% of heroin addicts entering rehab in 2015 *started* with heroin, as opposed to 8.7% in 2005. It also helps explain why, contrary to Ms. Erickson’s reporting, opioid overdoses have [reached crisis levels in Europe](http://www.ajpb.com/news/opioid-epidemic-ravages-europe), despite a European medical culture that historically has been stingy with pain medicines, and has encouraged stoicism from patients. And the overdose crisis in [Canada](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/opioid-related-overdose-figures-show-grim-reality-of-canadian-epidemic/article36257932/), ranked [second](https://globalnews.ca/news/2899965/canada-ranked-second-in-world-for-per-capita-opioid-use/) in the world for per capita opioid use, has alarmed public health authorities there. But at least the Europeans and Canadians have the good sense to emphasize [harm reduction](http://www.drugpolicy.org/issues/harm-reduction) measures to address the crisis, such as safe injection rooms and medication-assisted treatment, rather than focusing on inhibiting doctors from helping their patients in pain. ##### Related Tags [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).