IDS 402 Final Project Part OneIntroduction

Prescription drug overdose is currently one of the most serious health crises in the United
States. Since the problem emerged around three decades ago, it has claimed hundreds of
thousands of lives (Jones et al., 2018). Such is the seriousness of the problem that is has now
been declared an epidemic in the United States. The problem is closely related to wellness as
most of the people who get addicted to prescription drugs and put themselves at the risk of
overdosing, use the drugs for pain relief. Unfortunately, instead of improving their wellness, it
worsens their condition as they become addicted to the drugs and sometimes die from overdose.
This paper seeks to gain a better understanding of the problem of prescription drug overdose
through examining it using four different educational lenses that coincide with four fields of
study. These are history, humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
Lens Analysis: History

The prescription drug overdose problem, just like other epidemics, has a unique natural
history. In the country where the epidemic is most profound, the United States, the epidemic
started as a confluence of a number of factors. In the 1990s, physicians considered chronic pain
to be serious enough to warrant its own treatment. A solution to this problem was found in
opioid-based drugs. Previously only used sparingly, doctors began prescribing opioids and other
similar drugs for pain relief (Yaunger et al., 2020). Pharmaceutical companies manufacturing the
drugs assured doctors and the public at large that the drugs were safe for use, were not addictive
unless used for recreation, and that they were effective in managing pain (Yaunger et al., 2020).
Beginning in the mid-1990s, opioid-manufacturing companies started heavy promotion of the

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drugs. They funded professional and patient organizations, lobbied lawmakers, and sent their
representatives to visit doctors. In these promotional activities, they emphasized the efficacy,
safety, and low potential for addiction of their prescription opioid-based products (Overdose,
2018). This promotion was potentially fraudulent as the claims about the safety, efficacy, and
addictive potential of the drugs have been found to be inaccurate. It is now clear that opioid-
based products, the main culprits in the current prescription drug overdose problem, are not
particularly effective in long-term pain treatment in as people can develop tolerance to the drugs
when they use them for long (Yaunger et al., 2020). Additionally, contrary to the claims of
pharmaceutical manufacturers, opioid-based drug products are highly addictive regardless of
whether they are used for pain management or for recreation.
Despite being fraudulent, the aggressive marketing of opioid-based products paid off as
doctors began large-scale prescription of the drugs for pain management. Apart from pain
management, the drugs began to be extensively used for recreation as a way of dealing with
sorrows and depression (Jones et al., 2018). The unintended effect of heavy usage prescription
drugs was drug overdose problem as use and misuse of the drugs became prevalent. The
overdose of both prescription and non-prescription opioid-based drugs resulted in deaths of many
people.
The rise in deaths due to overdose of opioid-based products can be outlined in three
waves. The first one began in the 1990s and continued to around 2008. This wave was primarily
driven by the increase in prescription of opioid-based drugs for pain relief by doctors (Overdose,
2018). The drugs involved were mainly natural and semi-synthetic opioids as well as methadone.
The second wave began around 2010. This wave was mainly driven by overdose of heroin
(Overdose, 2018). Unlike the first wave, the second wave did not last for long. It subsided

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around 2013 as a new, third wave of overdose deaths began. This third wave involved synthetic
opioids, particularly fentanyl, an illicitly manufactured drug (Overdose, 2018).
By examining this history of prescription and non-prescription drug overdose, one can
find the root causes of the problem and, therefore, also find some of the solutions to the problem.
From a purely historical perspective, the main culprit in the drug overdose problem is the
pharmaceutical companies who, based on very weak evidence, heavily promoted the opioid-
based products as effective, safe, and non-addictive. Their aggressive and potentially fraudulent
marketing resulted in an epidemic that continues to cost lives to this day. Physicians also share
blame in this epidemic for prioritizing money over the well-being of their patients. Thus, from
the perspective of history, the best way of combatting the epidemic is tightening regulations for
the pharmaceutical industry so that they only promote drugs that there is strong evidence that
supports their safety and effectiveness.

Lens Analysis: Humanities

When looked from the perspective of humanities, the problem of drug overdose goes
beyond victims and perpetrators. Rather, humanities approach the issue as a general societal
problem whose causes and potential solutions can be found through careful analysis of the
society. It is partly for this reason that various organizations have sought to find ways of
holistically addressing the problem through obtaining better understanding of the various factors
in American society that make it possible for a terrible epidemic such as the prescription drug
overdose to emerge and remain prevalent for over a decade. For instance, Boston School of
Public Health organizes the Fall Forum on Humanities Approach to the opioid crisis with a view
to finding a solution to the problem that is society-wide rather than one that is limited to
individuals (Hawkins & McEntryre, 2016).

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The approach of Boston School of Public Health and other organizations such as the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is based on the understanding that culture
plays an important role in the emergence and spread of epidemics such as the drug overdose one
and, therefore, the solution to the problem can also be found in culture. For instance, the culture
of promoting find celebrating financial success without regard to how the success came about
leads to the kind of actions that pharmaceutical companies took in the 1990s where they
promoted use of opioids without concern for the well-being of its users. Additionally, a culture
that promotes stigma against the victims of opioid epidemic makes it difficult for such people to
get timely and adequate treatment for their condition. From a humanities perspective, dealing
with drug overdose problem should involve awareness promotion in the public to reduce or
eliminate stigma against people who are addicted to pain-relief medications. This approach is
already being taken by various entities, including government which no longer treats misuse of
opioids as a criminal issue. The medical community has also changed its culture to one that is
more humane and empathetic to patients by researching alternative pain management
medications that are not addictive (Pates et al., 2017). Thus, rather than looking at the drug
overdose problem as one of victims and perpetrators, looking at the problem from a humanities
lens allows for the development of more holistic approach to the problem.
Lens Analysis: Natural and Applied Sciences

Natural and applied sciences take an evidence-based approach to get to the cause of the
problem and its solution. Examining the problem of addiction to opioid-based pain management
drugs, the approach of natural and applied sciences is to find out what happens to the brain of a
person when they start taking drugs and the changes that occur to the brain that cause the
addiction. To this end, it has been found that when taken, opioid drugs negate pain perception by

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binding to the opioid receptors. Continued use of the drugs induces ecstatic feeling in the brain
which eventually wears off. The person is forced to increase their dosage of the drug in order to
achieve the same sense of ecstasy (Overdose, 2018). This results in the person getting hooked up
to the drugs. Apart from addition, science also explains how extensive use of opioid-based
prescription drugs causes newborns to be diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Having provided an explanation of how incidences such as addiction occur, science also
provides evidence-based solutions to the problem. To curb overdose of prescription and non-
prescription opioid-based drugs, medical research has established prescription overdose overlap
by non-medical drug abuse (Overdose, 2018). For instance, it has been found that abuse of drugs
such as heroin may lead to abuse of prescription opioids. In order to reverse overdose of
prescription and non-prescription opioid-based drugs, a number of medications have been
proposed. One of these medications is naloxone. Instead of creating health complications like
heroin does, naloxone helps one to recover from overdose in a safe manner (Overdose, 2018).
Thus, natural and applied sciences provide explanations related to the cause and potential
solutions to the problem of prescription and non-prescription drug overdose using evidence-
based approach.

Lens Analysis: Social Sciences

Social sciences include disciplines such as political science and sociology. When
examining the effects of addiction and overdose of prescription and non-prescription drugs,
social sciences do not limit themselves to individuals. Rather, they look at how the addiction and
overdose affects the behaviors of an individual and their relationship with other people in society
(Wu, 2020). For instance, from the lens of social sciences, some of the effects of addiction
include broken families, increase in cases of sexual assault, and other forms of crimes such as

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theft, and general degradation of the morals of the affected persons. Thus, addiction to
prescription and non-prescription drugs leads to people who are unfit to be responsible members
of the society.
Social sciences also critique the various approaches that have been used to fight the
epidemic. For instance, political scientists consider criminalization of misuse of addictive pain-
relief medications to be counterproductive and unhelpful in the fight against the epidemic. Rather
than addressing the problem, criminalization of misuse of opioid-based drugs only increases
incarceration rates. Social sciences also examine the various ways that addiction victims have
been treated by the healthcare system and the society at large. To prevent addiction victims from
becoming a menace to the society, social sciences recommend a humane approach to their
treatment and recovery that does not make them feel like pariahs. The approaches recommended
by social sciences have been applied by various organizations including non-governmental
organizations as well as both state and federal governments (Wu, 2020). Thus, from a social
sciences point of view or lens, the repercussions of the opioid epidemic go beyond individuals.
Rather, the consequences of the problem are society-wide. For this reason, the solution to the
problem has also to be society-wide.

Conclusion: Impact

Integrating the four lenses of education helps to develop a better understanding of the
opioid crisis. Through taking an interdisciplinary approach to the drug overdose crisis one
develops new insights into the problem unlike the one-dimensional approach that one takes when
they examine the problem from a single lens. The problem of prescription and non-prescription
drug overdose is an extremely complex one. It has social, cultural, economic, health, and
historical intricacies. Thus, at a personal level, examining the problem from the four different

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educational lenses helps to understand the different intricacies of the problem in an in-depth
manner. At a professional level, an interdisciplinary approach to the problem helps to develop a
more holistic and effective solution to the problem.

Conclusion: Social Practices

Social practices are habitual activities that structure the lives of members of a given
community. They include games and sports, kinship ceremonies such as taking dinner with
immediate or extended family members, funeral ceremonies, and birth. The opioid crisis has had
a negative and disruptive effect on these social practices. The large number of deaths due to
overdose of prescription and non-prescription drugs has increased the frequency of funeral
ceremonies, family rituals such as eating together have also been affected as various family
members battle with addictions that prevent them from fully participating in social functions.
Conclusion: Benefits and Challenges of Addressing Drug Overdose Problem
The negative effects of opioid epidemic are both direct and indirect. In terms of direct
impact, overdose of prescription and non-prescription medications has led to hundreds of
thousands of deaths. Apart from deaths, abuse of opioid-based pain-relieving medications has led
to financial hardships for both individuals and families, and increase in criminal activities. Thus,
there are many benefits of addressing the problem of overdose of prescription and non-
prescription drugs. Finding a solution to the problem will significantly reduce the number of
people dying from overdoses. It will also free up spaces in healthcare facilities that are currently
used to treat persons with prescription drug overdose and addiction problems. A solution is also
likely to reduce criminal activities that are usually perpetrated by persons who are addicted to
prescription pain-relieving medications and other similar drugs that are non-prescription.

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Despite these obvious benefits that a solution to the opioid crisis is likely to bring to both
the affected individuals and the society at large, the crisis of drug overdose continues with no
easy solution in sight. Various challenges have made it difficult to find an effective and lasting
solution to the overdose problem. One of the challenges is ease of availability of opioid-based
drugs that are behind the current crisis. The drugs are relatively cheap. Thus, they are easily
available to anyone who may want to use them. Another barrier is the cost of treatment of
affected persons. The cost of treating persons who are addicted to prescription and non-
prescription drugs is relatively high. The high treatment cost has made it hard for some victims,
particularly those from low-income families to find effective treatment for their condition.
Conclusion: Importance of Four Lens Analysis in Interactions with other People
Analyzing the drug overdose problem through an interdisciplinary lens helps to improve
interactions with people who hold different perspectives and viewpoints. This is because such an
approach helps to overcome the tendency to stick to preconceived notions about a given issue
which can act as an impediment to healthy interactions with people holding different viewpoints.
An interdisciplinary approach achieves this by introducing one to the subject matter from a
different perspective which challenges one’s pre-existing notions about a given issue.
Additionally, an interdisciplinary approach helps one to integrate ideas and concepts from
different disciplines into a conceptual framework of analysis that is broad. A person with a broad
understanding of a given subject is likely to be sympathetic to ideas that are different from the
ones that they hold than a person whose understanding of a given issue is relatively narrow and
based on only one lens of education.

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References

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Overdose, O. (2018). Understanding the epidemic. Atlanta, Centers for Disease Control and
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Pates, R., Candon, P., Stenius, K., Miovský, M., O’Reilly, J., & Babor, T. (2017). Publishing
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