As a person living with pain, you’ve likely talked extensively with your healthcare provider about your pain management plan, opioid medications and long-term health goals. Yet, while opioid pain medication remains an important part in the treatment of pain, accidents associated with opioids can happen to anyone.1 On average, 44 people die each day from prescription opioids and in more than 80% of those cases, it’s unintentional.2
The Pain Community (TPC) is committed to providing our members with relevant resources to help prompt conversations with your healthcare provider. With this goal in mind, we are proud to be a part of “America Starts Talking,” a new initiative aimed to elevate the conversation around the safe use of prescription opioids so that patients, as well as their friends, family members and caregivers, are prepared for an opioid emergency, such as an accidental overdose.
We are excited to share several resources, which are now available at AmericaStartsTalking.com which includes quick facts on the safe use of prescription opioids and a discussion guide you can take with you to your next doctor’s appointment.
It’s our hope that, together, we can ensure these potentially life-saving conversations pertaining to safe use of prescription opioids take place.
TPC Board of Directors
America Starts Talking is sponsored by kaléo in partnership with The Pain Community (TPC) and other national patient advocacy and professional organizations who are dedicated to improving the lives of those taking prescription opioids to manage pain.
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1 SAMHSA Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit Safety Advice for Patients. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 13-4742, http://www.integration.samhsa.gov/Toolkit_Patient_-_Family_Safety.pdf, accessed September 3, 2015.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vital Signs Fact Sheet Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/opioid-prescribing/index.htm, accessed September 3, 2015.