The Utah Epidemic

Over 100 million adults in the United States are faced with chronic pain. This pain may be due to surgeries, injury or chronic diseases, such as cancer. Each year an estimated $635 billion dollars are attributed to loss of productivity and medical expenses for those suffering from chronic pain (1). These people need and deserve solutions to reduce pain and help them to continue to live productive lives. Those facing chronic pain want to be treated and want to have quick relief. When doctors are presented with patients reporting pain, 20% of the time they prescribe opioids (2). Opioids are effective for treating pain in the short-term but long-term use can have serious negative effects. Opioids are extremely addictive and overdose related deaths from prescription drugs have surpassed the rates of overdose deaths for heroin and cocaine combined 1 . The CDC reported that in 2013 there were 1.9 million people in the U.S. abusing or dependent on opioids 2 . There are many alternatives to