PA58CH09-Skolnick ARI 18 November 2017 9:40 Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology The Opioid Epidemic: Crisis and Solutions Phil Skolnick Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Santa Monica, California 09401, USA; email:
[email protected] Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 2018. 58:143–59 Keywords First published as a Review in Advance on heroin, overdose, naloxone, vaccines, medication-assisted therapies, pain October 2, 2017 The Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology Abstract by
[email protected] on 01/16/18. For personal use only. is online at pharmtox.annualreviews.org The widespread abuse of prescription opioids and a dramatic increase in https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-pharmtox- the availability of illicit opioids have created what is commonly referred to 010617-052534 as the opioid epidemic. The magnitude of this epidemic is startling: About Copyright c 2018 by Annual Reviews. 4% of the adult US population misuses prescription opioids, and in 2015, Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 2018.58:143-159. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org All rights reserved more than 33,000 deaths were attributable to overdose with licit and illicit opioids. Increasing the availability of medication-assisted treatments (such as buprenorphine and naltrexone), the use of abuse-deterrent formulations, and ANNUAL REVIEWS Further the adoption of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prescribing Click here to view this article's guidelines all constitute short-term approaches to quell this epidemic. How- online features: • Download figures as PPT slides ever, with more than 125 million Americans suffering from either acute or • Navigate linked references • Download citations chronic pain, the development of effective alternatives to opioids, enabled at • Explore related articles • Search keywords least in part by a fuller understanding of the neurobiological bases of pain, offers the best long-term solution for controlling and ultimately eradicating this epidemic.