The opioid crisis statistics are alarming: Drug overdoses, most of which are related to opioids, killed over 64,000 people in the United States last year — an increase of 21% over 2015. Disturbing as those numbers are, understanding the data behind opioid addiction, and analyzing the overwhelming information being collected is critical to fighting the drug crisis.
In the article title “Using Big Data Medical Analytics to Address the Opioid Crisis,” CereScan CEO, John Kelley, discusses how data analytics can and must become a key component in the effort to end the opioid epidemic.
“We’ve all seen the statistics: Drug overdoses, most of which are related to opioids, killed over 64,000 people in the United States last year — an increase of 21% over 2015, according to the CDC. The New York Times just reported that fentanyl has overtaken the top spot from heroin as the leading cause of these deaths. Almost as chilling, there are an estimated 2 million prescription opioid addicts, putting a squeeze on the economy to the tune of more than $75 billion annually.
The national opioid crisis is a dilemma of dichotomies. There are challenges with both prescription and illicit drugs. The solutions must consist of efforts that realistically can reduce the number of people who become addicts in the first place, as well as cure those who do…”
