About 8.1% of high school seniors report non-medical use of the prescription painkiller Vicodin® in 2010 and 2011.
AWARxE News
Drug Drive Prevents Abuse, Pollution
May 14, 2012Two Israeli Men Sentenced for Smuggling Counterfeit Drug Products Into US, Products Sold Via Fake Online Pharmacies
May 2, 2012FDA Urges Patients to Help Prevent Children’s Accidental Exposure to Fentanyl Patches
May 2, 20122012 National Drug Control Strategy Includes Continued Focus on Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse
April 25, 2012Online Drug Sellers Take Advantage of Drug Shortage Fears, Warns NABP
April 24, 2012 More AWARxE News »Abuse & Misuse – Trends and Prevention
Get Informed on Medication Safety
Half of the nearly 3.4 billion prescriptions dispensed each year are taken improperly, and this can lead to side effects, hospitalization, and even death. Young children can be harmed when given an incorrect dose, or when they take a medicine without supervision. In fact, there was an increase (30%) in the number of children under five years old visiting emergency departments due to medication poisoning from 2001 to 2008. Over half of those visits, 55%, were due to the child taking the medication on their own. Being an informed consumer will help keep you and your family safe.
Learn more – click on the question below to find the related facts and to learn about prevention efforts.
Medication Safety
- How can children be protected from accidental medication poisonings or overdose?
- What can I do to make sure my family uses medications safely and appropriately?
- What is the difference between misuse and abuse?
- What is being done to help people avoid misuse and abuse, and prevent prescription drug addictions?
How can children be protected from accidental medication poisonings or overdose?
- Store medications as instructed by a pharmacist and keep all medications out of reach of children. See “Safety Tips for Giving Medications to Children” for more information.
- Dispose of unneeded, unwanted, and expired medications following the appropriate medication disposal guidelines. Proper disposal helps prevent misuse.
What can I do to make sure my family uses medications safely and appropriately?
- See “Safety Tips for Giving Medications to Children” for more information.
- Dispose of unneeded, unwanted, and expired medications following the appropriate medication disposal guidelines. Proper disposal helps prevent misuse.
What is the difference between misuse and abuse?
- Prescription drug abuse is the use of a medication without a prescription, in a way other than as prescribed, or for the experience or feelings elicited – eg taking medication to “get high” –, as defined by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The abuse of certain prescription drugs— opioids, central nervous system depressants, and stimulants—can lead to a variety of adverse health effects, including addiction.
- Food and Drug Administration explains that the difference between abuse and misuse has to do with the individual’s intentions or motivations. For example, when a person takes a prescription drug to get a pleasant or euphoric feeling (ie to “get high”), especially at higher doses than prescribed, that is an example of drug abuse.
According to FDA, prescription drug misuse may involve not following medical instructions, but the person taking the drug is not looking to “get high.” For example, if a person isn’t able to fall asleep after taking a single sleeping pill, they may take another pill an hour later, thinking, “That will do the job.” Or a person may offer his headache medication to a friend who is in pain. Those are examples of drug misuse because, according to FDA, because the person is treating themselves, but not according to the directions of their health care providers. FDA stresses the both misuse and abuse of prescription drugs can be harmful and even life-threatening to the individual. This is because taking a drug other than the way it is prescribed can lead to dangerous outcomes that the person may not anticipate. - According to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, prescription drug misuse can include:
- Taking the incorrect dose
- Taking a dose at the wrong time
- Forgetting to take a dose
- Stopping medicine too soon
What is being done to help people use medications correctly and avoid misuse of prescription drugs?
Education
- AWARXE, a consumer protection program, maintains AWARERX.ORG as an information source providing authoritative resources about medication safety, prescription drug abuse, medication disposal, and safely buying medications on the Internet. AWARXE also participates in consumer expos, student educational campaigns, and other outreach efforts to educate consumers about preventing drug misuse and abuse.
- KnowYourDose.org provides information on taking the correct dosage of acetaminophen to avoid an overdose that can lead to liver damage.
- Medicines in My Home, an FDA initiative, provides a multimedia educational program developed to teach consumers how to choose over-the-counter medicines and how to use them safely.
- “Use Medicines Wisely,” an FDA initiative that aims to educate women about safe medicine use, provides videos, a medications record-keeper, fact sheets, and other safe medication use resources.
Prescription Drug Misuse & Abuse
- How many Americans are misusing and abusing prescription medications?
- How many teens and young adults abuse prescription medications and over-the-counter medications?
- Why are teens abusing prescription drugs?
- How are people obtaining illegal prescription drugs?
- What is being done to help people avoid misuse and abuse, and prevent prescription drug addictions?
Counterfeit Drugs
- What are counterfeit drugs?
- What are the dangers of counterfeit drugs?
- Where are counterfeit drugs found?
- How can I make sure that I avoid counterfeit drugs?
Find out More:
Prescription Drug Abuse in the United States
- “Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention” from Office of National Drug Control Policy
- “Prescription Medications” from National Institute on Drug Abuse
- “Prescription Drug Abuse” from Medline Plus
Teen Prescription Drug Abuse
- ”Preventing Teen Abuse of Prescription Drugs” (PDF) from The Partnership at Drugfree.org
- The Partnership at Drugfree.org
- ”National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign” from Office of National Drug Control Policy
Counterfeit Medicines
- Buying Medicine Online from National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
- Counterfeit Medicine from Food and Drug Administration
