Opioid epidemic

The opioid epidemic is a public-health crisis marked by widespread opioid misuse, opioid use disorder, and overdose deaths. Its scale and causes have shifted across prescription opioids, heroin, and illicitly manufactured fentanyl.

Opioid use disorder: A chronic medical condition involving problematic opioid use, impaired control, and continued use despite harm. Repeated opioid exposure can lead to this diagnosable disorder, though dependence does not affect everyone alike.
OxyContin: A brand of extended-release oxycodone introduced in the United States in 1996. Its launch and promotion became closely associated with the prescription-opioid phase.
Methadone: A long-acting opioid medication used to treat opioid use disorder and, in other settings, pain. Maintenance treatment can reduce illicit opioid use and mortality.
Overdose: A harmful reaction to taking a toxic amount of a substance, potentially causing serious injury or death. Opioid-involved overdoses account for the crisis's most immediate and visible harm.
Disease model of addiction: An account of addiction as a chronic condition involving changes in brain function and behavior. It frames opioid use disorder as a health condition rather than simply a moral failing.
Fentanyl: A potent synthetic opioid used medically and illicitly, associated with a high risk of fatal respiratory depression. Illicit fentanyl has made the drug supply more potent and unpredictable.
Purdue Pharma: An American pharmaceutical company that developed and marketed OxyContin. Its marketing and the drug's role in the crisis became subjects of litigation and public scrutiny.
Buprenorphine: A medication that partially activates opioid receptors and is used to treat opioid use disorder and pain. It treats opioid use disorder with lower overdose risk than full opioid agonists.
Neonatal abstinence syndrome: A group of withdrawal symptoms in newborns after exposure to certain substances before birth. Opioid exposure during pregnancy can result in withdrawal symptoms after birth.
Moral model of addiction: An account of addiction that attributes substance use primarily to personal weakness or wrongdoing. This framing contrasts with treatment approaches grounded in health and evidence.

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