PRESCRIPTION DRUG

OVERDOSE PREVENTION
IN NEW MEXICO
LAUREN LOVATO
The University of New Mexico October 26, 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
Introduction
____________________________________________________________________________
______ 1
Methodology
____________________________________________________________________________
______ 1
Results
____________________________________________________________________________
_____________ 2
Discussion of Results
_________________________________________________________________________ 5
Recommendations
____________________________________________________________________________
6
Works Cited
____________________________________________________________________________
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PRESCRIPTION DRUG OVERDOSE

PREVENTION IN NEW MEXICO
Introduction
A surplus of prescription drugs in New Mexico has led to an inflation of
accidental overdosed induced deaths because of an imperfect system
between healthcare and patient. The amount of deaths from prescription
drug overdoses was 536 in the same year that marked a 19 percent
increase the year before. (Stats from 2014 that can be found in the BC
Medical Journal by Jafari MD).
There should be more prevention in place to stop this abuse of prescription
drugs. With an increase of 20% more deaths from overdose this year, the
implications that are currently in place are clearly not working. These
numbers show that the state needs to improve its efforts in preventing
addiction, along with better regulation of the dispense of prescription
painkillers.
Through research and personal experience, this report will discuss the
amount of deaths over time that occur due to Prescription drug overdose,
the devastation that it causes, the current preventions that we have in
place as a state and new ways to help diminish prescription drug overdoses.

Methodology
TO DETERMINE WHAT CHANGES ARE BEING MADE TO THE PRESCRIPTION
MONITORING PROGRAM AND REQUIRING PRESCRIBERS AND PHARMACISTS
TO CONSULT THEIR PATIENTS ON PRESCRIPTION AWARENESS.
Step One: The immense problem that has arisen in New
Mexico in correlation to health
Step Two: How is New Mexico doing in this emerging war
against prescription drug overdose?
Step Three: The PDMPS system and consultation of
prescription drugs to patients.

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Results
Step 1: The immense problem that has risen in New Mexico in
correlation to health
With the rising epidemic of Prescription drug overdoses, its time to dive into
the problem and how to rid New Mexico of the title of the 2nd worst state for
prescription drug overdoses. The drug overdose rate in New Mexico has
been one of the highest in the nation for the past two decades. The death
rate has more than tripled since 1990.
The Prescription drugs explained were all taken from The New England
Journal of Medicine in the article Trends in Prescription Drug abuse and
mortality by Dhalia MD. The drugs that are being abused are ones that
everyone knows about. Narcotic painkillers, (Opioids) work as binding
receptors in the brain, which blocks the feeling of pain. Examples of these
are: Codeine, Vicodin, Oxycodone and Tramadol. Sedatives are prescription
drugs that work by depressing the central nervous system. Examples of
sedatives are: Chloral Hydrate, Glutethimide, Methaqualone and
Meprobamate. Stimulants are used to elevate blood pressure heart rate,
and respiration. Examples of stimulants are: Caffeine, Nicotine, Cocaine and
Amphetamines.
Compared to all other states New Mexico ranks as the second worst state
for prescription drug overdoes. In North Dakota which has the lowest
amount of prescription drug overdoses per year which is achieved by
focusing on State pain clinic laws and by following a strict PDMP system as
found in The English Journal of Pharmacology in the article Prescription Drug
Protection by Brooks Pharm.D. A state pain clinic law us a law in which the
state requires oversight of pain management clinics. The way they have a
secure PDMP is by the state having interoperability with at least one other
state regarding the monitoring of patient prescription history. Which offers a
larger range of information to insure maximum protection in practices.

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Step 2: How is New Mexico doing in this emerging war against

prescription drug overdose?
According to New Mexicos Indicator-Based information system: Drug use
can result in overdose death and is also associated with other societal
problems including crime, violence, homelessness, loss of productivity and
spread of blood-borne disease such as HIV and hepatitis. PDMPS in New
Mexico does not recognize the dispensing of Controlled II drugs on the same
day, which means two pharmacies may dispense the drug in the same day
which can go undetected.
I received information from Ashley Martinez who is a Pharmacist at the
Walgreens in Los Lunas who explained she feels that the PDMP system
works well, but she believes that the system needs to be updated sooner
regarding the patient history, that it simply doesnt immediately update.

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Opioid Prescriptions Dispensed by US Retail Pharmacies IMS Health,

Vector One: National, years 1991-1996, Data Extracted 2011. IMS Health,
National Prescription Audit, years 1997-2013, Data Extracted 2014.

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Data from the CDC shows that states with higher rates of prescription drug
use have higher rates of prescription drug overdoses. In 2008, West
Virginia, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida were among the highest in rates
of both prescriptions and overdoses. Graph by David Perry

Step 3: The PDMPS system and consultation of prescription drugs to

patients.
As a state, the PDMPS system and consultation of prescription drugs to
patients needs to get Stimulated due to the current position of being
executed poorly. The PDMP system would focus on the dispensing of
Scheduled Prescriptions such as schedule II, III, and IV. The Consultation of
prescriptions to patients would focus on the whole realm of prescriptions.
Scheduled drugs refer to the potential that each prescription has towards
abuse or addiction.
The PDMPS system is the prescription monitoring program that connects
Practitioners and Pharmacists to a registry that shows dispensed controlled

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substance history of patients. The PDMP system is a good resource that is
available to health care providers, but with revisions with a broader history
and quicker submissions, the system would be much more effective.
In Florida overdose deaths decreased by 23% between 2010 and 2012 after
legislators and law enforcement took actions to crack down on widespread
availability of narcotic painkillers. By becoming stricter and serious about
the immense problem thats emerging, the problem would start to diminish.
The study was done by Graham MD in his article Prescription Opioids and
overdose deaths published in 2009.

Discussion of Results
Patient consultation must become a higher priority in the heath care field
due to the immensely high deaths that have occurred to accidental
overdose as mentioned previously by The New England Journal of Medicine
by Dhalia MD. The changes need to be made in the initial dispensing of the
prescriptions in the pharmacy setting.
As being in the pharmacy environment and observing the lack of interaction
between the pharmacist and the patients is extremely prevalent. A
consultation with the patient takes virtually no time, which can quickly add
up with multiple patients, but how do you take that little amount of time
compared to the loss of time that the patients who accidently overdosed? A
minute of your time can save decades of time.
On October 30th of this 2015, a California doctor was convicted of murder
charges in regards to overdosing patients. Convicted of second-degree
murder by ignoring red flags about her prescribing habits, including the
overdose of a patient in her clinic and nine phone calls in less than three
years from authorities over deaths in her patients in which they found drugs
in their systems. A quote from Deputy Dist. Atty. John Niedermann stated
Addicts and people seeking medications arent in control, Healthcare
providers are the ones who are supposed to push back, they have a duty.
This needs to be a message to Doctors, Pharmacists, Nurse Practitioners
and Physician Assistants in New Mexico regarding the possible risks in

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overdosing. This should not be looked at as a negative, rather an added
reason to double checking patient history and possible red flags that can
come up. Implementing possible repercussions for neglect or all healthcare
providers is essential in the plan to help lowering the total number of
overdoses from prescription medications.

Recommendations
When it comes to prescription drugs, there is a fine line between life and
death that needs to be established that can help reduce the overall number
of deaths. With the rise of overdose induced deaths in the New Mexico, a
solution may be challenging but with providers working hand and hand with
the best systems possible the lives saved will be a definite improvement.
The PDMPS system and consultation of prescription drugs to patients
needs to get stimulated due to the current position of being executed
poorly.
Become stricter and more serious about the immense problem thats
emerging, resulting in the problem diminishing.
Patient consultation must become a higher priority in the heath care
field due to the immensely high deaths that have occurred to
accidental overdose.
Implementing possible repercussions for neglect to all healthcare
providers to help lower the total number of overdoses from
prescription medications.
I have explained the statistics that affect New Mexico from prescription
overdoses and how we as a state stand to fight it, with the best solutions to
making this a state of euphoria without the overdose deaths. Putting
yourself in the position of being the prescriber, wouldnt you want to be
have the best possible resources to hopefully make a contribution to
lowering the overdose amount? Every person matters.

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Works Cited
California doctor convicted of murder in overdose deaths of ... (2015,
October 30). Retrieved October 30, 2015.
Graham, N. (2009). Prescription Opioids and Overdose Deaths. JAMA, 17661766
Important Facts for Drug Overdose Deaths. (2014, May 19). Retrieved
October 25, 2015.
PDMP Center of Excellence. Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs: An
Assessment of the Evidence for Best Practices. Waltham, MA: Brandeis
University; 2012.
Prescription medication abuse. (2012). Retrieved November 2, 2015.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. National
Survey on Drug Use and Health [database], 20092010, 20072008, and
20052007. Accessed Oct 29th, 2015.
Trends in Prescription Drug Abuse and Mortality. (2015, March 15). Retrieved
October 28, 2015.
By Katiann Marshall, Katherine Heath and David Perry. "Prescription Drug
Abuse a Growing Problem at West Virginia University - Mountaineer News
Service-West Virginia News." Mountaineer News ServiceWest Virginia News.
N.p., 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

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