HP 3400 DRUG USE AND ABUSE Narcotics Before viewing: 1. What seems to be the topic(s) of the film? a. The topic appears to be the consequences that can develop for long term opioid use. 2. What do you already know about this topic(s)? a. I know that opioids have addictive qualities and that many people who are on prescription drugs after big injuries can develop an addictive personality. I also was made aware that people share prescription drugs to others for money. While viewing: 3. Identify 1 course topic/fact that was illustrated in the film. What 1 course topic from this week’s chapter can be linked to the film? Include a proper in-text citation from the text here. (10 points) a. “After several months of intense use, some users are capable of taking 40-50 times the amount that would kill the person with less tolerance( Chapter 8).” This was displayed within the second segment of the movie where the mother was taking to the hospital for a kidney stone. She was in the hospital receiving pain meds at the regular dosage level which caused her to go through withdrawals due to her tolerance being so high. Her four day after being in the hospital with withdrawal , the hospital gave her 8 full bottles of opioids which she overdosed on after ths left the facility. In the third and fourth family we were shown the necessity for Naloxone aka Narcan. “Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that has been used for more than 30 eyars to reverse the effects of opioid overdose (Chapter 8).” It was used in the third family by the grandmother to show the young daughter how to use Narcan in case her mother was to overdose. In the fourth family we learn of the Naloxone being used on the son to reverse his overdose. It worked the first time but the second time later that day it was non responsive for the patient. 4. What content from the film challenged your prior opinions or thoughts on this topic? Have your thoughts on this topic changed because of the film? How so? a. My original mindset was that people would get addicted while being on the drug in the hospital and that when they ran out they would purchase from other people they’d known with similar injuries. I know now from the film all you have to do is find a different doctor and complain of pain and they will treat you accordingly. After viewing: 5. What did you find the most surprising or interesting? Why? a. I find it so surprising how doctors will provide a different opioid to help with another one, increasing the likelihood of addiction. In the second story you hear the daughters frustration with the hospital because the same doctors who were pumping their mothers stomach in the past were the same ones who gave her eight bottles of opioids at once. I was in shock at the lack of negligence for the physician to see the addictive behavior and not respond accordingly. 6. After watching the film, what questions/concerns/issues do you still have regarding the film’s topic? a. My concern is the lack of monitoring for these medications. When shadowing a physician I learned that there is a database in some areas where you can see how many times a patient receives an opioid even if it as at a different hospital. If there more flagging issues done then we may be able to help prevent these addictions from progressions.
