Opioid stats a cynical saga about money

Lost time

We could describe the tide of opioid deaths sweeping through Ohio as an American tragedy.

Instead, let’s call it what it is: collateral damage as a result of pure, unmitigated greed.

New statistics from the Drug Enforcement Agency reveal Ohio, which has the second highest cases of overdose deaths in the nation, was flooded with 3.4 billion pain pills between 2006 and 2012.

In particular, four counties in southeast Ohio — not coincidentally some of the poorest and most reliant on Medicaid — were deluged.

King Midas couldn’t compete with the mountain of cash opioids can generate.

Ohio’s opioid epidemic is a story of how money can change people’s minds about what’s right and wrong, and how the power of that money to weaken or even tamp out legislation aimed at restricting pharmaceutical companies.

It’s about cynicism and a basic lack of respect for vulnerable people who have no power.

What’s happened in Ohio is a tale of complicity, from pharmaceutical firms that flood the airwaves with endless ads, urging us to “contact your doctor to see if it’s right for you;” to a segment of physicians tempted by the money, even at risk to their patients, even at risk of criminal charges; to politicians who are willing to be wined, dined and back-slapped by industry lobbyists and executives.

A 2017 report published by the Government Accountability Office states, “The amount of money people spend on prescription drugs has nearly doubled since the 1990s. Much of this increase is due to expensive brand-name drugs, but the prices of some generics have also gone up.”

The GAO report further states that pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry revenue increased from $534 billion in 2006 to $775 billion in 2015.

Nearly 70 percent of drug companies increased their profits during the same time period, with many reporting profit margins as high as 20 percent.

Spending for research and development, however, increased only from $82 billion in 2008 to $89 billion in 2014.

Ohio’s story is one of jaw-dropping numbers, too. A recent report published by Gatehouse Media includes a study by Ohio University, which determined 1 million years of life have been lost to overdoses in the state between 2008 and 2018.

One million years of lost time and talent.

Immeasurable grief

What can’t be quantified are the immeasurable moments of frustration, grief and heartbreak addiction causes.

What can’t be seen are the families who have been broken and shattered.

Ohio’s story is also about the taxpayers, the people who underwrite Medicaid, and who are being asked to pony up more as the number of children at risk is rising. The Public Children’s Service of Ohio found the percentage of Ohio kids in foster care has jumped 28 percent over the past five years, the vast majority of cases a direct result of opioid addiction.

The problem is so acute Gov. Mike DeWine made increased support of children’s services one of his administration’s top priorities.

Showering Ohio with opioids has resulted in manpower and resources being consumed and pressed to the limit, as people who can’t shake their addictions stumble into a horror story of criminality, self-abasement and death.

The story of opioid addiction in Ohio is a tale about the relentless pursuit of profits at the expense of people.