The old headline on this page called OxyContin and hydrocodone over-the-counter drugs. They are prescription opioids, and confusing the two categories makes it harder to understand the actual risk. The historical concern was rising fatal poisonings involving opioid pain medicines, not proof that every pharmacy product is more dangerous than cocaine.
What did the primary surveillance show?
A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis found that unintentional poisoning mortality rose between 1999 and 2004. Earlier work connected much of that rise to opioid analgesics. The original CDC surveillance report describes how deaths were counted. Death certificates may list more than one substance, and population statistics do not tell us the risk of a correctly used medicine for one person.
Later CDC data showed a continued increase in deaths involving opioid analgesics through 2006 (CDC opioid poisoning figures). These figures do not support treating all prescriptions or all over-the-counter products as one group. They do support taking opioid exposure and overdose signs seriously.
Where complementary care fits
For some long-lasting pain conditions, non-drug options can help people function and may reduce the need to rely on a single pain strategy. In a randomized trial of adults with chronic low-back pain, an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction course improved the proportion reporting meaningful functional improvement compared with usual care (mindfulness for chronic low-back pain trial). The result applies to the people and condition studied; it does not establish mindfulness as an answer for every cause of pain. Our mind-body back-pain review explains more.
Anyone who may have taken an opioid overdose needs emergency help immediately. Someone taking an opioid regularly should discuss any change with the prescriber rather than stop abruptly. A complementary approach is most useful when its evidence and its limits are both clear.
