I chose to write my News Comment on an article from NBC News titled “To Fight the Opioid Crisis, These Doctors Cut Back on Opioids.” This article details, first, the continued danger and devastation opioid use is having in the United States. Tens of thousands of people die from opioid overdose each year, and 2 million people are addicted to them. Rush University Medical Center in Chicago has doctors that are trying their best to stop opioid addictions by changing cocktails for pain medications pre and post surgery. Studies have shown that these changes have accelerated healing processes, stopped nausea after surgery, and are working just as well as opioid drugs.
This article is important because of the news value of currency. Trump declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency on Thursday, rocketing it into the news even more than it has been recently. Opioid addiction can often be traced back to true, necessary prescriptions that have been used beyond their intended usage. Doctors that are trying to stop the use of opioids when not necessary are also trying to put a stop to the dangerous addiction epidemic. Opioids have always been in the news, but with Trump’s recent declaration they have become more prominent and more concerning.
Good example of currency, Mari. It’s also a good example of alternative framing. Few stories have held doctors at least partially responsible for opioid addictions.