Life expectancy in the United States dropped for the second year in a row, and this year, there is a clear reason: drug overdoses, with opioids causing two-thirds of them. Last year alone, the opioid epidemic killed 42,000 people, more than died of AIDS in any year at the height of the crisis. But no other developed country is facing the opioid epidemic in the same way. The U.S. has about four percent of the world’s population but about 27 percent of the world’s drug overdose deaths, writes The Washington Post. So why the discrepancy? The American medical system seems to be the issue. Americans are prescribed opioids significantly more often than their counterparts in other countries. In the U.S., according to The Post, 50,000 opioid doses are taken daily per every million residents. That is about 40 percent higher than the rate in Germany and Canada, not to mention double the rate in Austria and Denmark. Opioid intake is four times higher in the U.S. than Britain and six times higher than in France and Portugal. Plus, unlike many other countries, the U.S. has a mostly privatized system of health care, and experts say insurers are much more likely to pay for a pill than physical therapy or repeat treatments, meaning doctors prescribe opioids more than other treatments so that the person’s insurance covers the cost. Patients are often given more pills than they need to avoid repeat visits. Other countries deal with pain very differently, said Judith Feinberg of the West Virginia University School of Medicine, according to The Post. There is also an attitude in the U.S. that everything is fixable, so doctors are much more likely to prescribe painkillers here than in other countries. The United States is also one of only two countries worldwide that allow prescription drug companies to advertise on TV. Experts say that U.S. medical schools do not do a good enough job educating students on pain management, addiction and opioid use and abuse.
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