Emergence of Covid-19 and Increasing Rate of Depression Leads to Relaxation of Regulation around Opioids Agonist Drugs

 

Opioids agonist drugs are a group of powerful and widely used drugs that alleviate the pain of moderate to severe chronic pain by reducing the impact of narcotic receptors in the brain. These include both codeine and hydrocodone, the most common opioids. Although they relieve pain, they have serious side effects that include drowsiness, respiratory depression, dizziness, nausea, and sweating. These drugs are very powerful, so overdoses are common, and death from them is even more common. This group of drugs has received heavy criticism from both patients and doctors alike for the risks involved in using them.

The opioid antagonist hydrocodone works by blocking the opioid receptors in the body. Codeine is the only opioid that does this in a pure form. Because hydrocodone blocks the opioid receptors in the brain, it becomes less available to people who take it. This opioid group is popular among heroin abusers, since heroin creates a euphoric state that cannot be reproduced with hydrocodone. For this reason, heroin abusers frequently turn to other forms of treatment, such as prescription medications and methadone.

Other opioids agonist drugs in this group include oxycodone, hydromorphone (Percoset), hydromorphone hydrochloride (hydrocodone), and methadone. Taking them is not without dangers though. Oxycodone has caused at least five deaths and several dozen hospital admissions in the US since 1999. In extremely rare cases, people have died of overdosing on hydrocodone. Heroin abusers also regularly take this drug, since it can suppress their desire for heroin.

The emergence of Covid-19 has led to increase in cases of drug overdoses. COVID-19 has tripled the rate of depression in US adults in all demographic groups—especially in those with financial worries. Such scenario has led the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to relax a regulation around prescribing addiction medication in an effort to combat the rising death toll.